THE  SECOND 


general  Conference  of  J^utherans 

In  America 


HEIvD  IN 


Philadelphia^  April  1-3,  1902 


PROCEEDINGS,  ESSAYS  AND  DEBATES. 


MAR     31    2000 


NEWBERRY,  S.  C. 

LUTHERAN  PUBLICATION  BOARD, 

Elbert  h.  aull,  Superintendent. 

1904. 

THE  LIBRARY  OF 
THE  f,^ARY  J.  DREXEL  HOME 

and 

PHlLAOEL^HiA  f,^OTHER  HOUSE 

cf 

DEACO.N  ESSES 


Preface. 


The  beginning  of  the  Twentieth  Century  finds  the  General 
Synod,  General  Council  and  United  Synod  of  the  South  en- 
gaged in  an  earnest  effort  to  reach  a  common  understanding, 
and  to  acknowledge  the  importance  of  each  others'  mission 
and  work.  In  such  effort,  a  most  important  agent  has  been 
the  holding  of  public  Conferences  for  the  discussion  of  doc- 
trinal and  practical  questions,  that  have  brought  together  repre- 
sentatives of  these  once  united,  but  now,  for  a  generation, 
separated  organizations  of  Lutherans.  They  were  held  first 
unofficially,  through  arrangements  made  by  the  late  Rev.  Dr. 
J.  G.  Morris  of  the  General  Synod,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  A.  Seiss 
of  the  General  Council,  and  have  passed  into  history,  as  the 
Lutheran  Diets  of  1877  and  1878,  After  an  interval  of  over 
twentv  vears,  they  were  reintroduced  by  official  provision  made 
by  these  Bodies,  and  with  the  name  of  General  Conference. 
Each  of  the  organizations  appointed  a  member  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Arrangements,  and  also  a  Finance  Committee  of  lay- 
men to  secure  funds  needed  to  bring  together  representatives 
from  a  distance  and  provide  for  other  expenses.  In  Decem- 
ber, 1899,  the  first  of  these  Conferences  was  held  in  Philadel- 
phia, Its  proceedings  and  essays  were  published  in  a  volume, 
early  in  1900.  At  their  succeeding  conventions,  the  three 
Bodies  named  resolved  upon  another  Conference,  and  named 
the  necessary  committees. 

Upon  such  authority,  the  Second  General  Conference  was 
called  at  the  same  place  for  three  days  in  the  week  succeeding 
Easter,    1902.      The    Committee    of   Arrangements   being   re- 


A  - 


o3 


rV  PREFACE. 

sponsible  to  the  Bodies  that  appointed  them,  made  all  rules, 
decided  all  questions,  appointed  the  secretaries,  and  pre- 
sided at  the  sessions.  The  aim  of  this  committee  was  to 
secure  a  fair  presentation  of  the  life  and  spirit,  the  doctrine  and 
work  in  each  of  the  Bodies.  There  was  no  effort  either  to  seek 
for  differences  or  to  conceal  them.  The  question  of  their  ulti- 
mate removal  was  assumed  to  be  outside  of  the  sphere  of  the 
Conference. 

Fully  conscious  of  their  limitations,  the  committee  was  con- 
tent to  proceed  slowly,  and  feel  the  way  as  they  advanced^ 
Succeeding  Conferences  can  doubtless  make  very  material  im- 
provements. A  still  greater  range  of  Lutheran  Synods  may 
hereafter  participate.  A  smaller  number  of  essayists  may 
afford  opportunity  for  ampler  discussions.  Or  several  sec- 
tions might  be  held  cotemporaneously,  if  the  aim  would  be  to 
increase  representation.  The  suggestion  has  also  been  made 
that  laymen  be  included  on  future  programs.  While  these  and 
other  possibilities  should  be  kept  in  mind,  we  are  grateful  that 
the  Divine  Hand  has  led  us  so  successfully,  through  the  dif- 
ficulties that  withstood  us.  The  results  gained  are  permanent 
and  far-reaching. 

For  the  Committe  of  Arrangements, 

HENRY  E  JACOBS, 

Chairman. 

Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  April  loth,  1902. 


Table  of  Contents. 


Official  Action  and  Preliminary  Statement, I 

Opening  Service 5 

Sermon  by  the  Rev.  M.  W.  Hamma,  D.  D., 5 

Proceedings   of   the   Conference 17 

Essays  and  Remarks, 25 

"Opening  Address,"  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  H.  E.  Jacobs,  D. 

D.,  LL.  D., 25 

"Justification  by  Faith,"  by  the  Rev.  L.  G.  M.  Miller, 

D.  D., 32 

"The  Doctrine  of  Justification  in  its  Relations,"  by  the 

Rev.  Prof.  J.  W.  Richard,  D.  D., 42 

Remarks  by  the  Rev.  J.  A.  Seiss,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  L.  H. 

D 77 

Remarks  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  G.  F.  Spieker,D.  D 79 

"The  Relation  of  Young  Peoples'  Societies  to  the  Con- 
gregation," by  the  Rev.  C.  Armand  Miller 79 

Remarks  by  the  Rev.  C.  L.  Fry 87 

Remarks  by  the  Rev.  J.  C.  Kunzman,  D.  D., 88 

"The  Place  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  Lutheran  Theology." 

by  the  Rev.  Prof.  J.  C.  Moser,  D.  D 90 

Remarks  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  H.  E.  Jacobs,  D.  D.  LL.  D.  98 


VI  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

Remarks  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  J.  W.  Richard,  D.  D 99 

"The  Lutheran  Doctrine  of  the   Sacraments,"  by  the 

Rev.  L.  E.  Busby,  D.  D 100 

Remarks  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  J.  W.  Richard,  D.  D., 112 

Remarks  by  the  Rev.  H.  C.  HoUoway,  D.  D., 114 

Remarks  by  the  Rev.  E.  F.  Keever 116 

Remarks  by  the  Rev.  E.  D.  Weigle,  D.  D., .  116 

"Christian  Liberty  and  its  Limitations,"  by  the  Rev.  S. 

A.  Repass,  D.  D., 121 

Remarks  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  J.  Fry,  D.  D., 130 

Remarks  by  the  Rev.  S.  A.  Repass,  D.  D., 130 

"The  Historical  Deaconess'  Work  and  American  Condi- 
Remarks  by  the  Rev.  D.  L.  Mackenzie 117 

Remarks  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  H.  E.  Jacobs,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  117 

tions,  by  the  Rev.  G.  C.  Berkemeier,  D.  D., 131 

Remarks  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  A.  Spaeth,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,.  . .  141 

Remarks  by  the  Rev.  F.  P.  Manhart,  D.  D., 143 

"The  Movement  from    Romanism    to    Lutheranism    in 

Austria",  by  the  Rev.  C.  Goedel., 143 

"A  Native  Ministry     for     Congregations     in     Foreign 

Fields",  by  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Harpster,  D.  D., 149 

Remarks  by  the  Rev.  W.  L.  Seabrook., 159 

"Women  as  Helpers  in  the  Practical     Work     of     the 

Church",  by  the  Rev.  J.  P.  Krechting,  D.  D 160 

"Our  Home  Mission  Fields"  "East"  by  the  Rev.  W.  F. 

Bacher, 168 

"West"  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  J.  M.  Ruthrauff  D. 

D., 176 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  VII 

"South"  by  the  Rev.  W.  L.  Seabrook, 182 

"The  Spiritual  Priesthood  of  Believers,"  by  the  Rev.  J. 

A.  Hall,  D.  D., 190 

Remarks  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  H.  E.  Jacobs,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  201 

Remarks  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  D.  H.  Bauslin,  D.  D., 201 

"Are  Our  Present  Methods  of  Sunday    School    Work 
Adequate?"  First  Essay  by  the  Rev.  D.  H  Geis- 

singer,  D.  D., 202 

Second  Essay  by  the  Rev.  Prof.    J.     A.     Sing- 
master,    D.  D 211 

Remarks  by  the  Rev.  C.  S.  Albert,  D.  D., 220 

"The  attitude  of  the  Lutheran  Church  to  Current  Dis- 
cussions Concerning  the  Holy  Scripture,"  by 

the  Rev.  F.  H.  Knubel 222 

Remarks  by  the  Rev.  T.  E.  Schmauk,  D.  D 230 

by  the  Rev.  Prof.  G.  F.  Spieker,  D.  D 231 

by  the  Rev.  E.  T.  Horn,  D.  D 231 

by  the  Rev.  C.  S.  Albert,  D.  D 232 

by  the  Rev.  F.  H.  Knubel 233 

"Problems  in  Church  Polity,"  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  J.  Fry, 

D.  D 234 

Remarks  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  J.  M.  Ruthraufif,  D.  D 245 

by  the  Rev.  A.  Aaron 246 

by  the  Rev.  Prof.  D.  H.  Bauslin,  D.  D., 247 

by  the  Rev.  J.  C.  Kunzman,  D.  D 248 

by  the  Rev.  Prof.  H.  E.  Jacobs,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.  250 
"The  Defamers  of  Luther"  by  the  Rev.  J.  J.  Young,  D. 

D 252 

THE  LIBRARY  OF 
THE  MARY  J.  DREXEL  HOME 

ar>d 

PHILADELPHIA  IV^C^THER  HOUSE 

of 

DEACONESSES 


VIII  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

Remarks  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  A.  Spaeth,  D.  D.,  LL.  D 265 

Remarks  on  the  Conference  and  its  Work 269 

by  the  Rev.  L.  E.  Albert,  D.  D 269 

by  the  Rev.  H.  C.  Holloway,  D.  D 269 

by  the  Rev.  A.  Aaron 270 

by  the  Rev.  Prof.  D.  H.  Bauslin,  D.  D 271 

by  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Harpster,  D.  D 271 

by  the  Rev.  S.  D.  Daugherty 272 

Register 274 

Index 282 


The  Second 
General  Conference  of  Lutherans. 


OFFICIAL  ACTION 

AND 

PRELIMINARY  STATEMENT. 


The  First  General  Conference  of  Lutherans  held  in  Phila- 
delphia, Pa.,  December  27-29,  1898,  proved  such  a  success  that 
at  the  conclusion  of  the  program  there  presented,  the  follow- 
ing action  was  taken : 

"Resolved,  That  we,  as  a  Convention,  make  known  to  the  three 
General  Bodies,  by  whose  authority  this  Convention  was  called, 
the  desirability  of  holding  another  Convention  of  a  similar  charac- 
ter in  the  future." 

In  response  to  this  action  the  bodies  interested  appointed 
each  a  representative  to  make  necessary  arrangements  for  a 
Second  Conference.  Following  is  the  official  statement  of 
the  action  of  these  representatives : 

Washington,  D.  C,  November  13,  1901. 

The  Joint  Committee,  having  in  charge  the  calling  and  arrange- 
ments of  a  Second  General  Conference  of  Lutherans,  met  Novem- 
ber 13,  1901,  in  Washington,  D.  C. 

There  were  present  the  Rev.  Henry  E.  Jacobs,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  of 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  on  behalf  of  the  General  Council,  the  Rev.  L.  L. 
Smith  of  Strasburg,  Va.,  the  representative  of  the  United  Synod 
of  the  South,  and  the  Rev.  M..  W.  Hamma,  D.  D.,  the  delegate  of 
the  General  Synod,  the  full  co-mmittee  being  present. 

Dr.  Jacobs  was  made  president,  and  Dr.  Hamma  secretary  of  the 
committee.     It  was  resolved  to  hold  a  General  Conference,  similar 


^  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

to  the  one  convened  December  27-29,  1898,  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  and 
subject  in  the  main  to  the  same  rules,  with  the  addition  to  Rule  2, 
inserted  after  "Conference,"  said  committee  shall  make  all  rules. 

The  time  selected  was  the  week  after  Easter,  1902,  beginning 
Tuesday,  April  ist,  at  10:30  a.  m.,  and  continuing  three  days. 

Philadelphia,  Pa.,  was  again  chosen  as  the  most  suitable  place 
for  the  meeting;  the  sessions  to  be  divided  between  two  representa- 
tive churches  of  the  General  Council  and  the  Genral  Synod,  re- 
spectively. 

The  Rev.  M.  W.  Hamma,  D.  D.,  was  appointed  to  deliver  the  open- 
ing sermon,  at  10:30  a.  m.,  Tuesday,  and  the  Rev.  H.  E.  Jacobs, 
D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  the  president  of  the  committee,  to  open  the  busi- 
ness sessions  with  an  address,  Tuesday  at  2  p.  m. 

The  Secretary  is  to  notify  the  essayists,  and  in  case  of  declina- 
tion, the  representative  of  the  body  on  the  committee,  to  which  the 
party  declining  belongs,  shall  fill  the.  vacancy  or  vacancies. 

The  necessary  funds  to  pay  traveling  expenses,  and  entertain- 
ment, if  possible,  of  officers  and  persons  on  the  programme,  to  be 
secured  bj^  the  committees  of  laymen  already  appointed.  Four 
liundred  dollars  are  to  be  raised  and  are  apportioned  as  follows: 

General   Council $1,62.50 

General  Synod 162.50 

United  Synod,  South 7S-00 

Tuesday  evening,  April  i,  to  be  devoted  to  the  subject  of  Sunday 
Schools,  and  Wednesday  evening,  April  2,  to  Home  Missions. 

Sessions  will  open  and  close  as  follows:  9  a.  m.;  12m.;  resume 
at  2  p.  m.,  and  adjourn  at  5:30. 

Reverends  Wm.  M.  Baum,  Jr.,  Andrew  S.  Fichthorn,  and  A.  D. 
R.  Hancher,  were  elected  secretaries  of  the  Conference. 

Adjourned  at  call  of  president. 

I  M.   W.    HAMMA,   Sec.    Com. 

NOTE — The  action  of  the  committee,  devoting  Tuesday  even- 
ing to  the  consideration  of  the  subject  of  Sunday  Schools  was  sub- 
sequently changed,  a  reception  to  the  members  of  the  Conference 
by  the  Lutheran  Social  Union  of  Philadelphia,  at  the  New  Century 
Drawing  Room,  Twelfth  street  below  Chestnut,  being  substituted. 
Following  is  the  official  program  as  it  was  carried  out  by 
the  Conference. 

PROGRAM. 

Tuesday  Morning,  April  l,  1902,  St.  John's  Church.  10:30,  Divine 
■service,  with  a  sermon  by  M.  W.  Hamma,  D.  D.,  Washington,  D. 
..€.,  conducted  by  Rev.  L.  L.  Smith,  Strasburg,  Va. 

Tuesday  Afternoon,  St.  John's   Church.     2:00,    Organization    of 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  3 

Conference:  Secretaries,  the  Revs.  Wm.  M.  Baum,  Jr.,  Canajoharie, 
N.  Y.,  Andrew  S.  Fichthorn,  Norristown,  Pa.,  and  A.  D.  R.  Ranch- 
er, Staunton,  Va.  Opening  address  by  Chairman  of  Committee. 
Prof.  Henry  E.  Jacobs,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Philadelphia  Pa.,  presiding. 
2:30,  "Justification  by  Faith"  L.  G.  M.  Miller,  D.  D.,  Roanoke,  Va. 
3;oo,  "The  Doctrine  of  Justification  in  its  Relations,"  Prof.  J.  W. 
Richard,  D.  D.,  Gettysburg,  Pa.  3:30,  Discussion.  4:00,  "The  Rela- 
tion of  Young  Peoples'  Societies  to  the  Congregation,"  Rev.  C.  Ar- 
mand  Miller,  New  York.     4:30,  Discussion. 

Tuesday  Evening,  7:45,  Reception  to  the  members  of  the  Confer- 
ence by  The  Lutheran  Social  Union  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  at  the  New 
Century  Drawing  Room,  Twelfth  Street  below  Chestnut. 

Wednesday  Morning,  April  2,  St.  John's  Church.  9:30,  M. 
W.  Hamma,  D.  D.,  presiding.  Devotional  Exercises.  ,  "The  Place 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  Lutheran  Theology,"  Jason  C.  Moser,  D.  D., 
Hickory,  N.  C.  9:30,  Discussion.  10:00,  "The  Lutheran  Doctrine  of 
the  Sacraments,"  L.  E.  Busby,  D.  D.,  Salisbury,  N.  C.  10:30,  Dis- 
cussion. 11:00,  "Christian  Liberty  and  its  Limitations,"  S.  A.  Re- 
pass, D.  D.,  Allentown,  Pa.  11:30,  Discussion. 

Wednesday  Afternoon,  St.  Matthew's  Church,  2:00,  M.  W.  Ham- 
ma, D.  D.,  presiding.  "The  Historical  Deaconess'  Work  and  Amer- 
ican Conditions,"  G.  C.  Berkemeier,  D.  D.,  Mt.  Vernon,  N.  Y.  2:30, 
Discussion.  3:00,  "The  Movement  from  Romanism  to  Lutheranism 
in  Austria,"  Rev.  C.  Goedel,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  3:30,  Dscussion. 
3:50,  "A  Native  Ministry  for  Congregations  in  Foreign  Fields,"  J. 
H.  Harpster,  D.  D.,  Guntur,  India.  4:20,  Discussion.  4:40,  "Women 
as  Helpers  in  the  Practical  Work  of  the  Church,"  J.  P.  Krechting, 
D.   D.,   New  Germantown,  N.  J.    5:10,   Discussion. 

Wednesday  Evening,  St.  Matthew's  Church.  M.  W.  Hamma,  D. 
D.,  presiding.  Opening  services.  8:00,  "Our  Home 
Mission  Fields:  East,  Rev.  Wm.  F.  Bacher,  Rondout,  N.  Y.;  West, 
Prof.  J.  M.  Ruthrauflf,  D.  D.,  Springfield,  Ohio;  South,  Rev.  W.  L. 
Seabrook,  Newberry,  S.  C. 

Thursday  Morning,  April  3,  St.  Matthew's  Church.  Rev.  L.  L. 
Smith,  presiding.  Devotional  services.  9:00,  "The  Spiritual  Priest- 
hood of  Believers,"  John  A.  Hall,  D.  D.,  Canton,  Ohio.  9:30,  Dis- 
cussion. 9:45,  "Are  Our  Present  Methods  of  Suriday  School  Work 
Adequate?"  David  H.  Geissinger,  D.  D.,  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  J.  A.  Sing- 
master,  D.  D.,  Gettysburg,  Pa.  10:25,  Discussion.  10:55,  "The  At- 
titude of  the  Lutheran  Church  to  Current  Discussions  Concerning 
rhc  Holy  Scripture,"  Rev.  F.  H.  Knubel,  New  York.  11:25,  Dis- 
cussion. 

Thursday  Afternoon,  St.  Matthew's  Church.     Rev.  L.  L.  Smith, 

.  presiding.     2:00,   "Problems   of   Church    Polity,"   Prof.   Jacob    Fry, 

D.  D.,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  2:30,  Discussion.    3:00,  "The  Defamers  of 


4  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

Luther,''  J.  J.   Young,  D.   D.,   New  York.    3:30,    Discussion.    4:00, 
Open  Hour. 

The  following  rules  were  announced  as  governing  the  Con- 
fernce : 

1.  All  members  of  the  three  General  Bodies  that  have  authoriz- 
ed the  calling  of  the  Conference  to  have  the  privilege  of  participat- 
ing in  its  proceedings. 

2.  The  committee  of  arrangements,  being  responsible  to  the 
General  Bodies  that  appointed  them  for  the  conduct  of  the  Con- 
ference, said  committee  shall  make  all  rules,  will  decide  all  ques- 
tions that  may  arise,  and  will  preside  over  the  proceedings. 

3.  All  essa3nsts  shall  be  limited  to  thirty  minutes,  and  this  rule 
shall  be  strictly  enforced. 

4.  j  No  speech  in  the  discussion  shall  exceed  ten  minutes;  nor 
shall  any  speaker  be  recognized  a  second  time  in  the  discussion 
of  any  one  topic  while  the  privilege  of  the  floor  is  claimed  by  others 
who  have  not  spoken.  The  essayist  shall,  in  all  cases,  have  the 
privilege  of  closing  the  discussion  on  his  own  paper. 

5.  No  vote  to  be  taken  on  any  of  the  topics  under  discussion, 
and  all  propositions  and  motions  made  in  Conference  shall  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  committee,  which,  at  its  discretion,  may  refer  them 
to    he  Conference  for  decision. 

6.  All  papers  read  to  be  at  the  disposal  of  the  committee  for  pub- 
lication. 

The  Finance  Committee,  appointed  by  the  l)odies  arranging 
for  the  Conference  to  secure  the  funds  necessary  to  cover  ex- 
penses are  as  follows : 

General  Council:  Messrs.  William  Hengerer,  Buffalo,  N.  Y., 
chairman;  W.  H.  Stake,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  treasurer;  Oliver  Wil- 
liams,  Catasaqua,   Pa,;    Charles   Schimmelfeng,   Warren,    Pa. 

General  Synod:  Messrs.  C.  F.  Stifel,  Allegheny,  Pa.;  J.  G.  C. 
Taddiken,  New  York,  N.  Y.;  Isaac  Harter,  Canton,  O.;  J.  L.  Zim- 
merman, Springtield,  O.;  G.  W.  Deppen,  Sunbur}%  Pa. 

United  Synod  of  the  South:  Revs.  L.  L.  Smith,  Strasburg,  Va.; 
C.  P.  Boozer,  Etheridge,  S.  C;  J.  L.  Deaton,  Dallas,  N.  C;  C.  B. 
Miller,  China  Grove,  N  C;  M.  J.  Epting,  Savannah,  Ga. ;  F.  M. 
Harr,  Caney  Branch,  Tenn. 


The  Opening  Service. 


The  Second  General  Conference  of  Lutherans,  representing 
the  General  Synod,  the  General  Council  and  the  United  Synod 
of  the  South,  was  opened  in  St.  John's  Church,  Race  Street 
below  Sixth  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  Rev.  E.  E.  Sibole,  D.  D., 
pastor,  on  Tuesday  April  i,  1902,  at  10:30  A.  M.,  with  divine 
service.  The  liturgical  service  was  conducted  by  the  Rev.  L.  L. 
Smith  of  Strasburg,  Va.  The  sermon  was  preached  by  the 
Rev.  M.  W.  Hamma,  D.  D.,  of  Washington,  D.  C,  from  the 
text,  Esther  4:14,  "Who  knoweth  whether  Thou  art  come  to 
the  Kingdom  for  such  a  time  as  this?" 

Following  is  the  sermon : 

THE  MISSION  OF    THE    LUTHERAN    CHURCH    TO 
TFIE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY. 

The  Grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  zvith  you  all. 

Fathers,  Brethren  and  Friends — In  my  endeavor  to  fulfill 
the  duty  assigned  me  for  this  hour,  I  present  the  following 
Scripture  for  our  consideration  : 

Esther  4:14 — "And  who  knoweth  whether  thou  art  come  to 
the  Kingdom  for  such  a  time  as  this  ?" 

The  text  is  related  to  one  of  the  most  striking  and  familiar 
events  in  Old  Testament  history.  It  recalls  Babylon  and  the 
Captivity,  the  bitter  sorrows  of  the  exiled  Israelites,  the 
tragic  conspiracies  aimed  at  their  destruction,  the  divine  inter- 
position to  deliver  them  through  the  instrumentality  of  Esther ; 
it  reveals  how  the  Almighty  in  his  beneficent  purposes  takes  up 
widely  separated  and  often  contradictory  influences  and  makes 
t>/:r-.  subservient  to  a  common  end,  and  how  through  long 
courses  of  Providence  He  prepares  the  agencies  with  which  to 


6  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

meet  the  crises  that  from  time  to  time  confront  His  cause,  so 
that  the  help  and  the  dehverance  are  at  hand  when  the  time, 
the  day,  the  hour,  the  minute  strikes — "Come  to  theKingdom 
for  such  a  time.'' 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  deal  with  the  text  in  its  historical 
relations,  but  rather  to  take  it  out  of  its  ancient,  oriental  setting, 
and  place  it  in  the  new  environment  of  today,  at  the  opening 
of  the  Twentieth  Century  and  address  it  to  the  Lutheran 
Church  of  this  country. 

The  divine  writers,  in  order  to  express  the  absolute  certain- 
ty of  the  truth  of  a  statement  sometimes  put  it  into  the  form  of 
a  question. 

Therefore,  we  may  be  allowed  to  read  this  passage  as  a  posi- 
tive declaration:  "Thou  art  come  to  the  Kingdom  for  such  a 
time  as  this." 

The  mission  of  the  Lutheran  Church  to  the  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury is  the  theme  of  this  discourse  and  the  engaging  considera- 
tion of  the  hour. 

We  are  here  in  such  a  time  as  this  providentially,  to  perform 
a  special  service  in  the  Kingdom  of  God.  The  circumstances 
which  gave  birth  to  our  church  and  the  work  to  which  she  was 
originally  called,  peculiarly  fit  her  to  deal  with  the  problems  of 
the  present  day. 

True,  we  are  not  again  confronting  the  evils  of  the  Dark 
Ages,  as  in  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  for  the  power  of  the 
old  superstitions  has  been  broken,  intellectual  and  religious 
bondage  have  been  largely  abolished,  knowledge  has  been 
spread  abroad,  the  Gospel  is  free  to  every  one,  and  the  blessings 
of  a  Protestant  civilization  have  advanced  mankind  in  all  its 
best  interests  to  a  marvelous  extent.  It  is  but  just,  however;  to 
say  that  some  of  the  difficulties  confronting  us  today  on  relig- 
ious lines  are  such  as  are  incident  to  Protestantism  itself. 

As  man's  free  moral  agency  necessarily  carries  with  it  the 
power  to  sin,  so  the  beneficent  principles  of  Protestantism,  from 
the  nature  of  the  case,  are  susceptible  of  serious  abuse.  That 
glorious  religious  liberty,  purchased  by  Luther  and  the  Re- 
formers, has  suffered  much  of  misinterpretation.  In  its  name, 
the  swollen  conceit  of  self-opinions  has  opened  its  mouth  and 
taught  folly ;  intellectual  pride  has  arrayed  itself  against  re- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  / 

vealed  truth;  skepticism,  heterodoxy,  and  many  forms  of  un- 
belief have  put  forth  their  spurious  teachings  and  claimed  for 
them  the  liberality  and  the  broadness  of  Protestantism. 
Through  the  great  open  door  of  private  judgment,  which  Prot- 
estant teaching  sets  before  all  men,  have  also  come  a  flood  of 
heresies  and  infidelities,  as  well  as  the  great  ocean  tide  of 
evangelical  truth. 

While  this  new  world  stands  as  one  of  the  most  conspicuous 
examples  of  the  beneficent  results  of  Protestant  religion,  it  is 
at  the  same  time  a  most  striking  illustration  of  the  evils  that 
may  come  from  the  abuse  of  the  same  benign  principles.  It 
is  in  these  latter  manifestations  that  we  find  some  serious 
perils  to  both  Church  and  State. 

The  degeneration  of  the  Church,  as  Luther  found  it,  was  the 
result  of  the  dark  ages  preceding,  while  some  religious  per- 
versions of  today  come  rather  from  the  excessive  light  of  Prot- 
estantism. 

^len  have  gazed  into  the  face  of  the  sun  defiantly  and  turn- 
ed away  smitten  with  blindness ;  they  have  stood  wantonly  in 
his  light  until  brain  reeled  and  fell  from  its  throne.  So  have 
many  in  our  land  abused  the  exceeding  light  and  liberty  of 
Protestant  Christianity,  to  their  own  hurt,  and  to  the  mislead- 
ing and  spiritual  overthrow  of  many  of  their  fellows. 

So  it  comes  to  pass  that  there  is  need  for  much  reforming  in 
faith  and  life  in  this  Protestant  country.  Now,  it  is  not  by  a 
chance  combination  of  circumstances  that  the  Lutheran  de- 
nomination has  in  late  years  made  such  rapid  progress  in 
America.  There  must  be  some  special  significance  in  the  Provi- 
dence that  has  raised  her  from  a  position  of  comparative  ob- 
scurity to  a  leading  place  among  the  denominations  of  the 
United  States  in  so  brief  a  space  of  time.  It  must  be  noted  also 
as  a  matter  of  no  small  moment,  that  with  this  extraordinary 
growth  has  come  a  constantly  wider  and  deeper  apprehension, 
among  ministers  and  people  alike,  of  the  value  of  the  doctrines 
and  usages  of  Historic  Lutheranism. 

This  has  led  to  such  a  general  reassertion  of,  and  strong  ad- 
hesion to,  our  confessional  positions  as  to  beget  a  spirit  of  love 
and  loyalty  to  our  own  church  scarcely  known  before.  The 
significant  Providence  is  that  we  are  here  today  as  one  of  the 

^^  THE  L!DnARY  OF 

C,$J^^  THE  fvlARY  J.  DKEXEL  HOME 

■  and 
PHILADELPHIA  f/iOTHER  HOUSE 
of 

nCAPAMCOoro 


8  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

controlling  Christian  powers  of  the  Nation  equipped  with  the 
same  transforming  divine  forces  that  regenerated  the  Church 
of  Christ  in  the  Sixteenth  Century  and  have  changed  the  face 
of  the  world.  What  can  all  this  mean,  but  that  the  call  of  God 
is  upon  us,  and  if  we  but  heed,  we  may  hear  his  voice  ringing 
down  to  us  in  the  living,  thrilling  present :  "Thou  art  come  to 
the  Kingdom  for  such  a  time  as  this." 

This  general  statement  has  but  opened  the  door  to  our  sub- 
ject, and  it  remains  now  to  designate  and  consider  some  spe- 
cific features  of  our  mission  to  the  Twentieth  Century. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  First  element  of  the  mission  of  the 
Lutheran  Church  to  the  time  and  country  in  which  -we  live  is 
the  necessity  to  contend  zvith  renczved  earnestness  for  tJic  ab- 
solute supremacy  of  the  sacred  Scriptures. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Sixteenth  Century,  Ecclesiasticism 
held  well  nigh  undisputed  sway.  The  Bible  had  practically 
disappeared  as  the  Divine  authority.  The  first  appeal  of  Luther 
was  to  the  Word  of  God  as  over  against  hierarchical  usurpa- 
tion, and  his  insistence  upon  making  the  Scriptures  again  the 
only  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  brought  on  the  crisis  of  Refor- 
mation, It  was  this  distinct  issue  of  the  Divine  authority 
against  the  human  that  rendered  the  one  appealing  monk 
mightier  than  all  his  hosts  of  foes,  and  won  the  battle  and 
established  the  Protestant  cause  under  the  supremacy  of  the 
restored  Word  of  God. 

In  this  particular  age,  true,  no  special  efforts  have  been  made 
to  deprive  the  people  of  the  Bible  itself,  for  that  were  impossi- 
ble in  view  of  the  constantly  enlarging  facilities  for  its  circula- 
tion, but  a  different  method,  however,  is  pursued,  aiming  at 
somewhat  the  same  end.  The  sacred  Book  is  put  under  such 
treatment,  in  many  quarters,  as  in  effect  to  destroy  reverence 
for  it  as  a  fully  inspired  volume.  Its  various  parts  are  sub- 
jected to  unfair  methods  of  criticism,  in  order  to  shake  confi- 
dence in  their  Divine  authenticity.  It  is  more  than  hinted,  that 
the  old  Book  is  out  of  date,  and  no  longer  fully  adapted  to  man's 
needs,  while  not  a  few,  who  have  neither  the  knowledge  nor 
disposition  to  investigate  for  themselves,  echo  these  statements, 
more  than  willing  that  faith  in  the  only  Revelation  of  God  to 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE,  9 

man  may  be  destroyed,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  to  free  them- 
selves from  its  moral  restraints.  While  these  claims  and  declar- 
ations have  been  proven  as  unjustifiable,  they  nevertheless,  have 
done  no  little  harm  to  the  cause  of  Religion. 

It  cannot  be  disguised  that  the  Church  herself,  in  many  quar- 
ters, has  more  or  less  yielded  to  these  influences.  They  have 
been  called  liberalizing  tendencies  in  order  to  guise  their  real 
nature.  Many  are  talking  vaguely  and  doubtfully  about  the 
Bible,  hardly  daring  to  declare  all  they  secretly  mean,  lest  they 
openly  reveal  their  disbelief  of  Divine  inspiration.  They  are 
attempting  to  unduly  exalt  Science  and  Reason,  scarcely  hesi- 
tating to  declare  that  the  teaching  of  Scripture  must  agree  with 
these  in  order  to  lay  claim  to  Divine  authority.  Thus  the. in- 
fluence of  a  certain  style  of  religious  instructors  and  writers  in 
the  church  have  strengthened  the  outside  efforts  made  to  dis- 
credit the  Bible  as  the  infallible  standard  of  Truth. 

It  is  small  wonder  therefore  that  the  old  orthordox  beliefs 
and  practices  are  being  held  with  such  increasing  laxity  by  oiu* 
American  people,  both  inside  and  outside  the  church. 

In  these  attempts  at  undoing  the  Bible,  the  Lutheran  Church 
in  this  country  has  had  no  part  nor  lot,  but  has  stood  for  its  de- 
fense with  at  least  something  of  the  old  time  fortitude  of 
Reformation  days.  Therefore,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  she 
stands  in  the  front  rank  of  the  hosts  of  God,  to  lead  once  again 
in  that  great  battle,  now  at  hand,  against  those  who  would  put 
.aside,  or  replace  the  old  Bible  of  Sinai  and  Calvary  and  Wart- 
burg  with  something  that  is  less  in  the  amplitude  of  its  Divine 
inspiration. 

"Thou  art  come  to  the  Kingdom  for  such  a  time  as  this." 

A  second  element  in  the  mission  of  the  Lutheran  Church  to 
the  Tzventieth  Century  is  to  teach  with  renewed  insistence  the 
Perumucnce  and  Realism  of  the  Fundamental  Doctrines  of 
Christianity  as  re-established  in  the  Lutheran  Reformation. 

It  is  self-evident  that  in  order  to  reliability  the  forms  of 
Truth  must  be  permanent. 

Christian  Doctrines  that  are  subject  to  restatement  at  every 
change  of  worldly  circumstances,  lose  the  force  of  Divine  au- 
thority.    Such  frequent  alteration  carries  with  it,  not  onlv  the 


IQ  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

possibility  of  the  impairment,  but  the  final  elimination,  of  the 
supernatural  element. 

The  modern  spirit  of  Creed  tinkering  is  born  of  a  desire  to 
change  the  doctrine  quite  as  much  as  the  form  of  statem.ent. 
The  clamor  for  a  re-writing  of  the  Confession  generally  has 
behind  it  the  impelling  motive  of  a  belief  already  altered.  Un- 
til men  begin  to  quarrel  with  the  substance  of  certain  funda- 
mentals the  phraseology  and  mere  verbal  dress  in  which  they 
are  presented  are  no  special  offense.  But  inasmuch  as  the 
creeds  are,  in  a  large  measure,  but  transcripts  from  the  Bible, 
the  re-writers  find  themselves  up  against  the  inspired  records. 
Then  comes  the  attempt  to  read  other  than  the  natural  meaning 
into  the  text.  Hypothetical  interpretations  are  put  upon  posi- 
tive declarations ;  plain  historical  narratives  are  changed  into 
allegory ;  forced  translations  are  made  to  turn  the  edge  of  un- 
welcome truths,  and  clear  precepts  are  tunnelled  through  and 
honey-combed  with  doubtful  disputations.  These  efforts  have 
tended  to  loosen  the  bonds  of  faith,  in  definite,  clear-cut  doc- 
trines along  orthordox  lines.  Hence  the  befogged  sentiment 
among  many  that  'Tt  matters  little  what  we  believe,  so  we  live 
right." 

This  is  but  another  method  of  discrediting  fundamental 
truths  by  a  pretended  external  righteousness,  the  insincerity 
and  fallacy  of  which  are  well  proven  by  the  fact,  that  usually 
in  these  cases,  the  life  is  no  better  than  the  faith.  It  is  little 
short  of  an  axiom  that  to  him  to  whom  it  matters  little,  what 
he  believes,  it  will  soon  matter  little,  what  he  does. 

The  result  of  such  teaching  is  to  level  all  standards  of  or- 
thordox faith  down  to  a  common  plane  of  semi-religious  in- 
sipidity, where  all  definite  beliefs  are  decharacterized  and 
bleached  out  to  the  same  colorless  condition  and  mean  practical- 
ly the  same  thing,  because  they  mean  nothing  particular. 

Such  treatment  of  the  standards  of  Christianity  is  at  war  with 
Revelation  and  subversive  of  the  best  purposes  of  Protestant- 
ism. The  Reformation  began  in,  and  was  established  upon,  cer- 
■  tain  definite  and  permanent  statements  of  Truth,  which  in  their 
substance  are  real  and  unchangeable. 

In  that  universal  demolishment  of  the  works  of  men  which 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  ll 

took  place  at  that  time  in  order  to  find  the  eternal  verities,  only 
the  realities  of  the  Thorne  could  abide.  Men's  philosophies, 
traditions  and  assumptions  vanished  when  the  simple  plain 
Word  of  God  smote  them  with  its  light.  So  that  when  the 
church  came  out  of  the  Reformation  fires,  all  that  remained  on 
which  to  build  the  new  world  was  the  solitary,  simple,  un- 
changeable, omnipotent  Scriptures  of  Divine  Revelation.  This 
and  this  alone  was  the  residuum,  the  last  analysis  in  the  cruci- 
ble of  that  fierce  ordeal. 

While  the  Lutheran  Church  does  not  pretend  to  possess  a 
monopoly  of  Divine  Truth,  she  may,  however,  justly  claim  to 
have  restored  to  the  people  the  simple  Word  of  God,  and  to 
still  hold  it  in  its  primitive,  realistic  and  permanent  forms  as 
over  against  the  looseness,  vagueness  and  heterodoxy  of  the 
present  day.  And  from  her  past  unparalleled  success  in  work- 
ing needed  reforms  in  religious  conditions,  she  may,  with  no 
impropriety,  act  upon  the  conviction  that  her  special  mission  to 
the  Twentieth  Century  is  to  preach  this  same  simple,  realistic 
Gospel,  as  the  only  cure  of  the  wrongness  of  faith  and  life  so 
common  among  us. 

With  old  time  plainness,  she  must,  with  renewed  emphasis, 
maintain  that  sin  is  still  sin,  that  vicarious  blood  is  still  the  only 
remedy,  and  that  justification  by  faith  is  still  the  only  salvation, 
and  that  the  Word  of  God  in  its  intense  realism  must  be  accept- 
ed to  mean  what  it  says,  whether  it  speak  of  sin  or  savior  or 
sacrament  or  salvation,  or  supreme  authority  of  Divine  Truth. 

An  additional  element  in  the  mission  of  the  Lutheran  CJiurch 
to  "such  a  time  as  this"  is  to  preacJ±a  religion  of  Education  and 
Intelligence  as  over  against  the  superiicial,  the  emotional,  and 
the  sentimental. 

It  is  to  be  noted  as  one  of  the  distinguishing  characteristics 
of  the  Lutheran  movement,  that  it  was  born  of  the  most  careful 
investigation  of  the  spiritual  condition  of  the  church  at  that 
time.  Intelligent  and  careful  consideration  marked  every  step 
of  its  origin  and  progress.  It  would  have  been  of  no  avail  to 
meet  ignorance  with  ignorance,  and  superstition  with  dogma- 
tism, and  tradition  with  mere  denial. 

Knowledge,  knowledge  from  a  careful  study  of  the  Word  of 


1'2  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

God  and  Theology  and  History,  was  one  of  the  potent  influ- 
ences that  rendered  the  movement  sound  and  normal  at  its 
birth  and  triumphant  in  its  progress. 

It  was  a  moml  and  spiritual  transformation  wrought  under 
God  by  the  greatest  campaign  of  Education  ever  undertaken. 
The  means  of  instruction  in  some  method  or  other  went  into 
every  family.  The  Bible  became  the  leading  text  book,  Re- 
ligion the  theme  of  study,  and  schools  sprang  up  on  every  hand, 
whose  forms  in  some  measure  have  become  models  for  the 
educational  work  of  many  other  lands. 

As  a  result,  the  religious  training  of  the  young,  their  care- 
ful indoctrination  in  all  that  pertains  to  the  Faith  and  Life  of 
Christianity,  as  represented  in  the  teachings  of  the  Reformers, 
became  the  special  feature  in  the  upbuilding  of  the  new  relig- 
ious life  and  church  organization.  But  for  this  fundamental 
and  instructive  and  constructive  method  of  work,  this  cause 
would  not  have  lived  beyond  the  sensation  of  the  ofifending 
monk's  excommunication  from  his  church.  This  educational 
process  in  religion,  while  one  of  the  distinguishing  characteris- 
tics of  our  church  from  the  beginning,  has  nevertheless,  always 
aimed  at  the  very  highest  development  of  the  spiritual  element 
in  the  personal  life  of  the  Christian. 

Rich  in  the  subjective  experiences  of  faith,  she  is  unsurpass- 
ed in  her  wealth  of  Divine  sentiment.  It  pulsates  in  her  hymns, 
glows  in  her  literature,  and  has  written  and  sung  her  history 
into  a  sacred  epic  fit  for  the  angels  of  God  to  chant. 

On  the  line  of  experimental  Religion,  the  Lutheran  Church 
has  jio  need  to  be  taught  of  others,  for  she  herself  was  the  first 
teacher  in  bringing  evangelical  Christianity  back  to  the  world. 

But  much  of  the  emotionalism  and  sentimentality  which 
passes  for  general  religiousness  today,  hardly  rises  to  real  ser- 
iousness, let  alone  substantiality.  It  concerns  itself  little  either 
about  form  or  doctrine  and  is  content  to  say :  "What  we  be- 
lieve is  not  important,  so  that  we  have  the  right  feeling."  With 
these,  personal  discipleship  is  mainly  the  joyful  play  of  pious 
emotions,  a  certain  ecstasy  of  feeling,  which  sways  the  suscepti- 
bilities, and  for  the  moment,  makes  life  a  dream,  instead  of  a 
practical  reality  seized  and  possessed  of  stern  duties  to  be  done 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  13 

day  by  day  and  a  warfare  to  be  waged  to  the  end. 

Much  church  going,  attendance  upon  the  multipHed  meet- 
ings of  piany  societies  in  the  congregation  are  regarded  as 
special  marks  of  true  discipleship. 

For  all  this,  we  have  no  word  of  condemnation,  if  they  stand 
fast-rooted  in  something  better  than  themselves  and  are  count- 
ed the  fruit  instead  of  religion  itself. 

Beyond  question,  this  phase  of  Christianity  has  been  so  much 
overwrought  and  overvalued  that  religion  by  the  method  of  in- 
struction and  indoctrination  and  the  acquirement  of  an  intelli- 
gent apprehension  of  its  nature,  has  had  a  severe  struggle  to 
make  way  against  the  superficial,  the  emotional,  the  sentimental, 
the  sensational — so  common  and  so  easy  of  propagation. 

The  failure  of  these  modern  methods  is  everywhere  in  evi- 
dence. Reaction  against  the  superficial  and  sensational  has  set 
upon  its  way  and  will  wax  stronger  and  stronger  as  time  goes 
on.  The  day  is  at  hand  when  knowledge  must  play  its  part  in 
personal  religion  as  well  as  in  all  things  else. 

It  is  for  such  a  time  as  this  that  the  Lutheran  Church  has 
come  to  the  Kingdom,  to  apply  again  her  long-tried,  ever-suc- 
cessful, educational,  doctrinal  faith  and  grace  culture,  as  the 
best  basis  and  preparation  for  a  successful,  useful  and  trium- 
phant Christian  life. 

Now,  it  remains  last  and  most  important  of  all,  to  consider 
how,  as  a  denomination,  we  shall  adjust  ourselves  to  the  proper 
fulfillment  of  this  mission.  No  call  of  Providence  is  automatic. 
It  must  be  accepted  and  vitalized  by  responsive,  active  agency, 
that  will  carry  it  over  into  the  Divine  plan  for  its  accomplish- 
ment. 

To  bring  the  Lutheran  Church  into  the  condition  necessary 
to  the  execution  of  this  great  work,  for  which  Providence  seems 
to  have  fitted  her,  may  be  no  easy  task.  It  means  the  gathering 
up  of  all  her  forces  into  a  oneness  of  supreme  effort. 

No  fragment  or  section  of  the  Denomination  can  stand  apart 
and  arrogate  to  itself  alone  the  right  to  assume  and  accomplish 
this  stupendous  mission. 

It  was  a  Lutheran  people,  who,  in  a  sufficiently  large  sense. 


14  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

were  united  in  believing  the  same  things,  and  teaching  the 
same  things,  and  laboring  for  the  same  things,  that,  under  God, 
wrought  the  miracle  of  Reformation  at  the  first. 

Nothing  less  than  this  will  avail  for  the  work  that  now  con- 
fronts. 

Hitherto  one  disabling  fact  has  always  stood  against  the  real- 
ization of  our  great  possibilities.  With  an  unparalleled  his- 
tory, with  a  system  of  doctrines  unequalled,  with  an  endowment 
of  spiritual  resources  unlimited  in  adaptability,  yet  by  reason 
of  our  divisions,  we  have  counted  for  less  in  the  religious  forces 
of  this  country  than  many  of  our  inferiors.  We  have  been  com- 
pelled to  meet  every  great  opporunity  with  but  a  section  of 
our  forces,  while  the  remainder  were  respectively,  either  in- 
different, of  critical  attitude,  or  openly  hostile.  And  thus, 
while  we  have  wrought  immense  good  in  many  directions,  it 
has  been  in  a  disconnected  manner  rather  than  with  the  thor- 
oughly organized,'  unified  and  concentrated  resources  of  a  de- 
nomination, endowed  of  God  with  immeasureable  possibilities. 
If  united,  no  opportunity,  though  wide  as  the  continent,  wide 
as  the  hemisphere,  wide  as  the  world, — were  too  vast  for  us. 

Now,  I  am  not  unm.indful  of  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
such  unification  of  our  church.  Neither  can  I  forget  the  hope- 
ful fact  that  these  difficulties  have  been  greatly  lessened  in  the 
last  few  years,  as  the  holding  of  this  Conference,  among  other 
things,  may  suggest. 

A  study  of  the  doctrines  and  history  of  the  Lutheran  Church 
is  encouraged  and  pursued  as  never  before  since  the  Sixteenth 
Century.  This  is  fast  dissipating  the  ignorance  that  fostered 
mis  judgment  between  us.  Fraternal  intercourse  is  growing 
apace,  and  this  is  proving  the  death  blow  to  that  prejudice  that 
bred  distrust,  and  to  that  self-righteousness  that  could  see  no 
brother  even  in  his  own  family,  except  as  clothed  in  its  own  pe- 
culiar opinion.  Thus  the  educational  spirit  has  set  us  to  talk- 
ing over  our  differences,  not  with  set  jaw  and  a  clenched  fist  in 
our  pocket,  but  with  "the  law  of  kindness  in  our  tongue,"  and 
the  Christ-charity  in  our  hearts. 

And  in  such  controversy,  brotherly  love  gets  the  victory,  and 
Heavenly  Fellowship  sets  up  its  altar  and  begins  to  sing,  "Blest 
be  the  tie  that  binds,  our  hearts  in  Christian  love." 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  lu 

Considering  the  wonderful  changes  already  wrought  and  the 
steps  already  taken,  along  the  line  of  fraternal  co-operation,  it 
is  not  difficult  to  foresee  what,  in  the  divine  logic  of  such  a  move 
ment,  must  come,  sooner  or  later,  to  the  Lutherans  of  America. 

If  somewhat  of  a  digression,  it  will  be  excused  here  to  say, 
that  the  current  efforts  in  some  of  our  cities  at  "Church  Federa- 
tion" would  be  more  hopeful  of  success,  if  the  movement  were 
not  begun  at  the  points  of  widest  disagreement,  viz. ;  between 
quite  dissimilar  denominations. 

If,  first  of  all,  each  church  would  confederate  and  unify  the 
various  branches  of  its  own  name  and  faith,  between  whom  the 
difference  is  so  slight  and  who  stand  already  within  a  com- 
mon bond  of  Denominationalism,  the  ultimate  unity  of  Orthor- 
dox  Christianity  would  not  be  impossible. 

But  this  movement  at  Lutheran  unity  does  not  encounter  the 
bridging  of  gulfs  of  differences,  such  as  lie  between  distinct 
denominational  bodies,  does  not  necessarily  carry  with  it  any 
sacrifice  of  principle  or  truth  in  its  achievement,  as  feared  by 
some.  The  aim  and  method  of  procedure  are  thoroughly  nor- 
mal, and,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  will  progress 
only  as  all  the  essentials  of  the  Lutheran  System  can  be  pre- 
served. 

If  this  unity  were  sought  to  be  rushed  together  tomorrow, 
some  peril  of  unwholesome  compromise  might  be  encountered. 
But  we  wait  on  Him  whose  cause  it  is.  He  hastened  not  its  be- 
ginning, and  can  wait  the  century  through  for  its  consumma- 
tion. Certain  it  is,  that  in  the  fullness  of  its  coming,  it  will  be 
possessed  and  dominated  of  nothing  less  than  the  essential  doc- 
trines of  Historic  Lutheranism. 

With  three  of  the  General  Bodies  already  standing  together, 
in  at  least  a  formal  confederation,  the  practical  unity  of  the 
General  Lutheran  Demonination  has  progressed  quite  into  the 
domain  of  probability. 

With  a  clear  understanding,  as  already  had,  that  this  move- 
ment does  not  mean  Organic  Union,  but  Confederation  of  the 
several  General  Bodies,  on  the  Historic  Lutheran  Basis,  its 
furtherance  may  be  consistently  encouraged  by  all  who  are 
praying  and  laboring  and  hoping  for  the  success  of  our  beloved 
Church  here  and  elsewhere. 


16  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

If  we  can  thus  be  aligned  and  unified  in  our  efforts  for  the 
revival,  promulgation  and  defense  of  Evangelical  Christanity  as 
reestablished  by  the  Lutheran  Reformers,  the  century  before  us, 
and  the  next,  and  the  next,  and  still  the  next,  will  bring  to  our 
Church  achievements,  for  the  blessing  of  humanity  and  for  the 
Kingdom  of  Christ,  such  as  history  has  never  recorded.  But, 
if  by  reason  of  our  divisions,  we  fail  of  our  opportunity — "Then 
shall  their  enlargement  and  deliverance  arise  from  another 
place.'' 

And  what  this  will  mean  to  our  church,  only  coming  centur- 
ies of  disappointment  can  reveal !  If  I  may  speak  the  Truth  in 
unmistakable  words,  I  dare  say  that  the  one  duty  that  overlies  all 
others,  for  us  Lutherans,  in  this  country  and  time,  is  to  unify 
all  our  forces  in  order  to  measure  up  to  our  Providential  Call. 
The  supreme  opportunity  of  this  century  waits  before  us,  but 
will  yield  its  fullness  of  Divine  treasures  to  nothing  less  than  a 
United  Lutheran  Church. 


Proceedings  of  The   Conference. 


FIRST  SESSION. 


St.  John's  Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Tuesday,  April  i,  1902,  2  P.  M. 

The  Rev.  Prof.  H.  E.  Jacobs,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  of  Mt.  Airy, 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  Chairman  of  the  Joint  Committee,  appointed 
to  arrange  for  the  Second  General  Conference  of  Lutherans, 
called  the  Convention  to  order  and  presided  during  the  first 
session.  Prayer  was  offered  by  the  Rev.  Luther  Kuhlman,  D. 
D.,  of  Frederick,  Md.  The  appointment  of  the  Joint  Committee 
of  the  Rev.  William  M.  Baum,  Jr.,  of  Canajoharie,  N.  Y.,  the 
Rev.  Andrew  S.  Fichthorn,  of  Norristown,  Pa.,  and  the  Rev. 
A.  D.  R.  Hancher,  of  Staunton,  Va.,  was  announced,  after 
which  the  rules  to  govern  the  Conference  were  read. 

The  Chairman  of  the  Joint  Committee,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Jacobs, 
then  delivered  the  opening  address. 

The  first  subject  considered  was  "Justification  by  Faith." 
The  Rev.  L.  G.  M.  Miller,  D.  D.,  of  Roanoke,  Va.,  was  the 
essayist. 

The  second  paper  was  entitled,  "The  Doctrine  of  Justifica- 
tion in  its  Relations."  It  was  presented  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  J.  W. 
Richard,  D.  D.,  of  Gettysburg,  Pa. 

Remarks  were  made  by  the  Rev.  J.  A.  Seiss,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 
L.  H.  D.,  of  Philadelphia,  Pa. ;  the  Rev.  Prof.  G.  F.  Spieker,  D. 
D.,  of  Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  Pa.;  and  the  Rev.  F.  J.  F. 
Schantz,  D.  D.,  of  ^Myerstown,  Pa. 

The  third  paper  presented  the  subject  of,  "The  Relation  of 
Young  Peoples'  Societies  to  the  Congregation."  It  was  read 
by  the  Rev.  C.  Armand  Miller,  of  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Remarks  were  made  by  the  Rev.  C.  L.  Fry,  of  Philadelphia, 


18  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

Pa. ;  the  Rev.  J.  R.  Groff.  of  Lykeiis,  Pa. :  the  Rev.  J.  C. 
Kunzman,  D.  D.,  of  Greensburg,  Pa:  and  the  Rev.  C.  Armand 
Miller. 

The  session  closed  with  prayer  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  S.  A.  Ort, 
D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  of  Springfield.'Ohio. 


LUTHERAN  SOCIAL  UNION  RECEPTION. 

Tuesday.  April  i,  1902,  7:45  P.  M. 

A  reception  was  given  to  the  members  of  the  Conference  by 
"The  Lutheran  Social  Union  of  Philadelphia."  at  the  New  Cen- 
tury Drawing  Room,  Twelfth  Street  below  Chestnut  Street,  at 
which  more  than  two  hundred  members  and  guests  were  in  at- 
tendance. 

Mr.  William  J.  Miller,  president  of  the  Union,  occupied  the 
chair  and  prayer  vras  offered  h-y  the  Rev.  S.  A.  Repass,  D.  D., 
of  Alltjitown,  Pa, 

The  president  of  the  union  delivered  the  address  of  welcome. 
Addresses  were  also  made  by  the  Revs.  W.  L.  Seabrook.of 
Newberry.  S.  C. ;  Prof.  J .  M.  Ruthrauff,  D.  D.,  of  Springfield, 
Ohio;  Prof.  J.  A.  Singmaster,  D.  D..  of  Gettysburg,  Pa.;  L. 
L.  Sm.ith,  of  Strasburg,  Va. :  C.  Armand  Miller,  of  New  York, 
N.  Y.,  and  F.  J.  F.  Schantz,  D.D..  of  Myerstown,  Pa. 

Refreshments  were  then  served  and  a  delightful  social  hour 
was  passe-d. 

SECOND  SESSION. 

St.  John's  Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Wednesday,  April,  2   1902,  9  A.  M. 

The  Conference  was  called  to  order  by  the  Rev.  M.  W. 
Hamma,  D.  D.,  who  presided.  The  opening  prayer  was  offer- 
ed by  the  Rev.  H.  C.  Holloway,  D.  D.,  of  Bellefonte,  Pa. 

A  paper  on  "The  Place  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  Lutheran  Theo- 
logy" was  presented  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  Jason  C.  Moser,  D.  D., 
of  Hickory,  N.  C. 

Remarks  were  made  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  H.  E.  Jacobs,  D.  D., 
LL.  D.,  of  Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia.  Pa. ;  and  the  Rev.  Prof.  J. 
W.  Richard,  D.  D.,  of  Gettysburg,  Pa. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  19 

The  next  subject  considered  was.  "The  Lutheran  Doctrine 
of  the  Sacraments."  The  topic  was  presented  in  a  paper  by 
the  Rev.  L.  E.  Busby,  D.  D.,  of  SaUsbury,  N.  C. 

Remarks  were  made  by  the  Rev.  J.  R.  Groff,  of  Lylcens,  Pa ; 
the  Rev.  H.  C.  Holloway.  D.  D.,  of  Bellefonte,  Pa. ;  the  Rev. 
Prof.  J.  W.  Richard,  D.  D.,  of  Gettysburg,  Pa. ;  the  Rev.  E.  F. 
Keever,  of  Boston,  Mass. ;  the  Rev.  E.  D.  Weigle,  D.  D.,  of 
Mechanicsburg,  Pa. ;  the  Rev.  D.  L.  Mackenzie,  of  Lykens,  Pa./ 
and  the  Rev.  Prof.  H.  E.  Jacobs,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  of  Mt.  Airy, 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

On  motion  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Jacobs,  the  Rev.  E.  L.  S.  Tressel, 
of  Baltimore,  Md.,  a  member  of  the  Joint  Synod  of  Ohio,  was 
granted  the  courtesies  of  the  Conference  with  the  privilege  of 
participating  in  the  discussions. 

The  next  subject  presented  was,  "Christian  Liberty  and  its 
Limitations."  The  essayist  was  the  Rev.  S.  A.  Repass,  D.  D.,  of 
Allentown,  Pa. 

Remarks  were  made  by  the  Rev.  L.  G.  M.  Miller,  D.  D.,  of 
Ronoake,  Va. ;  the  Rev.  Prof.  J.  Fry.  D.  D..  of  Mt.  Airy,  Phila- 
delphia, Pa. ;  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Repass. 

The  session  was  closed  with  prayer  by  the  Rev.  E.  D.  Weigle, 
D.  D.,  of  Mechanicsburg,  Pa. 

THIRD  SESSION. 

St.  Matthe^Y's  Church, 
Wednesday,  April  2,  1902,  2  P.  M. 

Beginning  with  the  Third  Session,  the  remaining  meetings 
of  the  Conference  were  held  in  St."  Matthew's  Church,  North 
West  Corner  of  Broad  and  Mt.  Vernon  Streets,  of  which  for 
twenty-eight  years,  the  Rev.  William  M.  Baum,  D.  D.,  lately 
deceased,  was  pastor. 

The  Rev.  M.  W.  Hamma,  D.  D.,  of  Washington,  D.  C,  pre- 
sided and  called  on  the  Rev.  F.  J.  F.  Schantz,  D.  D.,  of  Myers- 
town,  Pa,  to  open  the  session  with  prayer. 

The  first  essay  was  entitled,  "The  Historical  Deaconess' 
Work  and  American  Conditions"  and  was  presented  by  the 
Rev.  G.  C.  Berkemeier,  D.  D..  of  Mt.  Vernon,  N.  Y. 

Remarks  were  made  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  A.  Spaeth,  D.  D.,  LL. 


20     '  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

D.,  of  Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  and  by  the  Rev.  F.  P.  Manhart, 
D.  D.,  of  Baltimore. 

A  paper  on,  "The  Movement  from  Romanism  to  Lutheran- 
ism  in  Austria"  was  read  by  the  Rev.  Carl  Goedel,  of  Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 

The  next  subject  was,  "A  Native  Ministry  for  Congregations 
in  Foreign  Felds,"  the  essayist  being  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Harpster, 
D.  D.,  of  Guntur,  India. 

Remarks  were  made  by  the  Rev.  W.  L.  Seabrook.  of  New- 
berry, S.  C. 

The  concluding  paper  of  the  session  was  entitled,  "Women 
as  Helpers  in  the  Practical  Work  of  the  Church."  It  w^as  pre- 
sented by  the  Rev.  J.  P.  Krechting,  D.  D.,  of  New  German- 
town,  N.  J. 

Remarks  were  made  by  the  Rev.  G.  C.  Berkemeier,  D.  D.,  of 
Mt.  Vernon,  N.  Y. ;  and  the  Rev.  Prof.  A.  Spaeth,  D.  D.,  LL. 
D.,  of  Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia. 

The  session  was  closed  with  prayer  by  the  Rev.  E.  R.  Cassa- 
day,  of  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

FOURTH  SESSION. 

St.  Matthew's  Church, 
Wednesday,  April  2,  1902,  8  P.  M. 

The  Fourth  Session  of  the  Conference  was  devoted  to  the 
consideration  of  the  subject  of  Home  Missions.  The  Rev.  Dr. 
Hamma  presided  and  the  Rev.  William  M.  Baum,  Jr.,  con- 
ducted the  liturgical  service. 

The  first  essay,  "On  Home  Mission  Fields:  East,"  was  by 
the  Rev.  William  F.  Bacher,  of  Rondout,  N.  Y. 

The  second  essay,  "Our  Home  Mission  Fields :  West,"  was 
by  the  Rev.  Prof.  J.  M.  RuthraulT,  D.  D.,  of  Springfield,  Ohio. 

The  third  essay,  "Our  Home  Mission  Fields :  South,"  was 
by  the  Rev.  W.  L.  Seabrook,  of  Newberry,  S.  C. 

FIFTH  SESSION. 

St.  Matthew's  Church. 
Thursday.  April  .3,  1902.  9  A.  M. 
The  Rev.  L.  L.  Smith,  of  Strasburg.    Va..    presided.      The 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  21 

Rev.  L.  G.  M.  Miller,  D.  D.,  of  Roanoke,  Va.,  opened  the  ses- 
sion with  prayer. 

The  first  paper,  "The  Spiritual  Priesthood  of  Believers,"  was 
read  by  the  Rev.  John  A.  Hall,  D.  D.,  of  Canton,  Ohio. 

Remarks  were  made  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  H.  E.  Jacobs,  D.  D., 
LL.  D.,  of  Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  and  the  Rev.  Prof.  D.  H. 
Bauslin.  D.  D.,  of  Springfield,  Ohio. 

The  next  subject  presented  was,  "Are  Our  Present  Methods 
of  Sunday  School  Work  Adequate?"  The  essayists  were  the 
Rev.  David  H.  Geissinger,  D.  D.,  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.;  and  the 
Rev.  Prof.  J.  A.  Singmaster,  D.  D.,  of  Gettysburg,  Pa. 

Remarks  were  made  by  the  Rev.  Charles  S.  Albert,  D.  D., 
of  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

A  paper  on  "The  Attitude  of  the  Lutheran  Church  to  Cur- 
rent Discussion  concerning  the  Holy  Scripture,"  was  presented 
Dy  the  Rev.  Frederick     H.  Knubel,  of  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Remarks  were  made  by  the  Rev.  T.  E.  Schmauk,  D.  D.,  of 
Lebanon,  Pa;' the  Rev.  Prof.  G.  F.  Spieker,  D.  D.,  of  Mt.  Airy, 
Philadelphia ;  the  Rev.  L.  G.  M.  Miller,  D.  D.,  of  Roanoke,  Va. ; 
the  Rev.  E.  T.  Horn,  D.  D.  ,of  Reading,  Pa. ;  the  Rev.  Charles 
S.  Albert,  D.  D.,  of  Philadelphia,  and  Rev.  F.  H.  Knubel. 

The  session  was  closed  with  prayer  by  the  Rev.  S.  A.  Repass, 
D.  D.,  Allentown,  Pa. 

SIXTH  SESSION. 

St.  Matthew's  Church, 
Thursday,  April  3,  1902,  2  P.  M. 

The  Rev.  L.  L.  Smith,  of  Strasburg,  Va. ,  presided.  The 
Rev.  L.  E.  Albert,  D.  D.,  of  Germantown,  Philadelphia,  offered 
prayer. 

A  paper  on,  "Problems  of  Church  Polity,"  was  read  by  the 
Rev.  Prof.  J.  Fry,  D.  D.,  of  Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Remarks  were  made  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  J.  M.  Ruthrauff,  D. 
D.,  of  Springfield,  Ohio ;  the  Rev.  A  Aaron,  of  Passaic,  N.  J. ; 
the  Rev.  Prof.  D.  H.  Bauslin,  D.  D.,  of  Springfield,  Ohio;  the 
Rev.  J.  C.  Kunzman,  D.  D.,  of  Greensburg,  Pa. ;  and  the  Rev. 
Prof.  H.  E.  Jacobs,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  of  Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia. 

On  motion  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  BausHn,  it  was 


22  PROCEIiDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

Rcsolz'cd,  That  the  essays,  the  discussions  and  the  proceed- 
ings of  this  Conference  be  pubHshed  in  book  form. 

On  motion  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Jacobs,  it  was 

Resolved  J  That  the  Secretaries  of  the  Conference  be  in 
trusted  with  the  work  of  editing  and  pubhshing  the  pioceed- 
ings  of  the  Conference. 

On  motion  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  BausHn,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  Secretaries  of  the  Conference  be  direct- 
ed to  arrange  for  a  canvass  of  the  members  of  the  Conference 
at  the  present  session,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  advance  sub- 
scriptions for  the  proposed  volume. 

As  a  result  of  the  canvass  eight-eight  advance  subscriptions 
were  received. 

The  concluding  paper  of  the  Conference  was  then  read.  Its 
title  was  "The  Defamers  of  Luther."  It  was  presented  by  the 
Rev.  J.  J.  Young,  D.  D.,  of  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Remarks  were  made  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  A.  Spaeth,  D.  D.,  LL. 
D.,  of  Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia. 

General  remarks  on  the  proceedings  of  the  Conference  were 
made  bv  the  Rev.  L.  E.  Albert,  D.  D.,  of  Germantown,  Phila- 
delphia'; the  Rev.  H.  C.  Holloway,  D.  D.,  of  Bellefonte.  Pa. ; 
the  Rev.  A.  Aaron,  of  Passaic,  N.  J.;  the  Rev.  Prof.  D.  H. 
Bauslin,  D.  D.,  of  Springfield,  Ohio;  the  Rev.  John  Weidley,  of 
Pittsburg,  Pa.;  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Harpster,  D.  D.,  of  Guntur, 
India ;  the  Rev.  S.D.  Daughertv,  of  Philadelphia ;  and  the  Rev. 
G.  W.  Enders,  D.  D.,  of  York,  Pa. 

On  motion  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Manhart,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  we,  as  a  Convention,  make  known  to  the 
three  General  Bodies,  by  whose  authority  this  Convention  was 
called,  the  desirability  of  holding  another  Convention  of  a 
similar  character  in  the  future. 

On  motion  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Jacobs,  it  was 

Resolved.  That  the  thanks  of  this  Conference  be  and  hereby 
are  tendered  to  St.  John's  pastor  and  congregation  and  to  St. 
Matthew's  congregation  for  the  use  of  their  churches  during 
the  Convention,  to  the  Finance  Committee  appointed  by  the 
three  General  Bodies,  and  to  those  who  have  responded  to  the 
appeal  for  funds  by  which  this  meeting  was  rendered  possible. 

On  miotion  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Jacobs,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  a  suitable  resolution,  memorial  of  the  late 
Rev.  William  Miller  Baum,  D.  D.,  pastor  of  St.  Matthew's 
Church,  be  prepared  and  entered  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Con- 
ference. 

On  motion  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  L.  E.  Albert,  it  was 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  23 

Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  Dr.  Jacobs  be  appointed  to  pre- 
pare the  resolution  memorial  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Baum. 

In  accord  with  the  above  action  the  Rev.  Dr.  Jacobs  present- 
ed the  following  minute : 


Resolved,  That  this  Conference  places  upon  record  its  high 
regard  for  the  memory  of  the  Rev.  William  M.  Baum.  D.  D., 
(born  1825;  died  1902,)  late  pastor  of  St.  Matthew's  church, 
in  which  it  is  now  assembled,  and  its  grateful  recognition  of 
his  courtesy  and  service  in  securing  this  place  of  meeting,  and 
in  most  cordially  communicating  the  action  of  St.  Matthew's 
Board  of  Officers  to  the  committee  of  arrangements.  As 
Secretary  of  the  Lutheran  Diets  of  1822  and  1878;  as  member 
of  the  Joint  Committee  of  the  three  General  Bodies,  that  pro- 
posed these  Conferences ;  as  an  active  participant  in  the  First 
Conference  of  1898,  which  also  met  in  this  church,  and  as 
President  of  the  Lutheran  Board  of  Publication,  which  joined 
in  the  publication  of  its  proceedings,  he  was  prominently  iden- 
tified with  this  movement  for  the  bringing  of  the  separated  por- 
tions of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  America  to  a  better  under- 
standing. We  recognize  him  as  an  honored  and  worthy  repre- 
sentative of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  this  city ;  as  a  revered  for- 
iner  President  of  the  General  Synod  ;  as,  for  over  a  gfucrntion  a 
most  active  and  efficient  member  of  the  Boards  of  the  institu- 
tions of  the  General  Synod  at  Gettysburg ;  as  a  vigilant  and  de- 
voted pastor ;  as  a  warm-hearted  friend,  and  judicious  consellor, 
who,  to  the  last  days  of  his  long  life,  shrank  from  no  responsi- 
bility, which  the  call  of  the  Church  imposed  upon  him.  While 
we  regret  his  absence  from  these  meetings,  for  which  he 
planned,  we  rejoice  in  the  assurance  that,  for  all  the  faithful, 
there  is  entrance  into  a  higher  and  holier  assembly,  where  all 
divisions  and  discords  of  earth  cease,  and  that  unity  in  Christ, 
which  is  the  object  of  these  Conferences,  will,  at  last,  be  com- 
pletely attained. 


The  Rev.  Dr.  Repass  spoke  of  the  excellent  program  prepar- 
ed by  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  and  in  fitting  terms  ex- 
pressed the  thanks  of  the  Conference  to  the  members  of  the 
Committee  for  their  efficient  services. 


24  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

The  Conference  then  adjourned,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Seiss  offering 
the  closing  prayer  and  pronouncing  the  benediction. 
WILLIAM  M.  BAUM,  Jr., 
ANDREW   S.   FICHTHORN, 
A.  D.  R.  HANCHER, 

Secretaries. 


ESSAYS  AND  REMARKS. 


Opening  Address  b.y  the  Rev.  Prof.  H.  E.  Jacobs,  D.  D., 
LL.  D. 

Fathers  and  Brethren : — A  few  words  on  the  purpose,  scope 
and  character  of  this  Convention. 

We  meet  again  in  Philadelphia,  in  the  extreme  Ea^^t,  not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  the  center  of  our  Lutheran  popula- 
tion in  the  United  States  is  west  of  Chicago.  So  often  have  the 
Conventions  of  both  the  General  Synod  and  General  Council 
been  held  in  the  Mississippi  valley,  that  the  impression  is  read- 
ily drawn  that  the  center  of  their  work  and  influences,  coincides 
with  the  center  of  the  country,  or  with  that  of  the  great  body 
of  Lutheran  people  in  this  land.  This  is  an  error.  The  west  is 
full  of  Lutherans ;  but  the  General  Synod  and  General  Council 
combined  form  only  a  small  percentage  of  these  hosts.  The 
word  "General"  is  only  the  relic  of  an  aspiration  of  both  these 
bodies  that  has  never  been  realized.  The  main  strength  of  the 
General  Council,  exclusive  of  the  influential  Augustana  Synod, 
is  in  Pennsylvania  and  New  York;  that  of  the  General  Synod 
in  the  same  States  and  Maryland ;  that  of  the  United  Synod  in 
a  line  along  both  sides  of  the  Blue  Ridge  through  Virginia  and 
into  the  Carolinas. 

The  descendants  of  the  Lutherans  in  America,  during  colon- 
ial days,  are  massed,  therefore,  with  considerable  compactness 
near  the  Atlantic  coast.  We  represent  the  congregations  and 
their  colonies  and  immediate  outgrowth,  that  wtic  organized 
and  brought  together  by  Muhlenberg  into  the  Mother  Synod  in 
1748,  and  over  which  he  exercised  more  or  less  sujK-rvision 
from  Nova  Scotia  to  Georgia.  These  congregations,  now 
divided  between  three  so-called  General  Bodies,  together  form 
the  trunk  of  the  tree,  whose  branches  spread,  far  and  wide,  into 
every  State  of  the  Union.    Here  are  the  beginnings  of  the  at- 


26  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE, 

tev.i^t  to  frame  for  the  future  centuries  of  our  Church  the  struc- 
ture of  a  Church  Constitrtion,  and  to  develop  Lutheranisni  *s 
an  Institutior; .  in  the  org-anization  of  coiiC; relation?  and  Synods 
and  General  Bodies,  of  Seminaries  and  Cohegre'^.  and  of  Mis- 
sionary, Church  Extension,  Education,  Publication  and  other 
beneficent  agencies.  Here  the  battles  for  the  existence  of  dis- 
tincti\^e  Lutheranisni  in  America,  and  for  the  perpetuation  of 
Lutheranism  through  the  language  of  this  land,  were  first 
fought  and  their  results  remain. 

Far,  therefore,  as  we  are  from  depreciating  the  West,  with  its 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  Lutherans,  the  call  has  not  come  to 
us  to  settle  the  questions  concerning  its  future.  East  and  West 
have  each  problems  to  solve  separately,  as  well  as  those  which 
concern  them  in  common. 

Separated  as  we  have  been  by  the  dissensions  of  a  genera- 
tion ago,  the  three  bodies  that  together  stand  for  a  history  of 
over  two  centuries  in  America,  have  for  years  been  more  nearly 
approaching.  We  have  a  common  service;  we  are  preparing 
a  common  hymnal ;  our  Deaconess'  Boards  are  united  in  a  com- 
mon association ;  we  are  endeavoring  to  conduct  our  mission 
enterprises  without  friction  or  interference  with  each  other; 
our  pastors  very  largely  refer  to  the  same  books  as  authorities ; 
we  include  each  other  in  all  our  enumeration  of  our  strength 
in  this  country  ;  we  meet  and  co-operate  in  various  social  organ- 
izations, as  tliat  of  the  influential  association  whose  guests  we 
are  to  be  tonight ;  and  our  general  bodies  have  appointed  com- 
mittees to  seek  for  still  closer  bonds  of  union. 

Xot  onl}'  kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh,  with  family  ties 
binding  us  together,  many  of  us,  while  divided  by  these  eccles- 
iastical lines,  are  graduates  of  the  same  institutions,  and  pupils 
of  the  same  professors.  More  than  one  representative  of  the 
General  Synod,  in  this  Conference,  was  born,  baptised  and  con- 
firmed in  a  congregation  now  of  the  General  Council ;  and  more 
than  one  representative  of  the  General  Council,  here  present, 
was  born,  baptised  and  confirmed  in  a  congregation,  now  of 
the  General  Synod.  The  three  essayists  announced  for  this 
afternoon,  representing  each  a  dififerent  body,  all  come  original- 
ly from  congregations  of  the  United  Synod.     The  pastor  of 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  27 

the  congregation  of  the  General  Council,  in  whose  church  we 
meet  today,  is  a  son  of  a  congregation  of  the  United  Synod ; 
wlr'le  ihe  late  lamented  pastor  of  the  congregation  of  the  Gen- 
eral Synod,  in  whose  church  we  will  meet  tomorrow,  was  a 
son  of  a  congregation  of  the  General  Council.  The  representa- 
tive of  the  General  Council  tomorrow  was  once  the  honored 
theological  professor  of  our  brethren  in  the  South ;  their  repre- 
sentative tomorrow  night  came  to  them  from  the  General 
Synod. 

All  this  shows  that  tl.e  divisions  which  have  separated  us  are 
unnatural,  and  unless  for  the  weightiest  reasons,  unjustifiable, 
Nothing  is  permanent  unless  it  rests  upon  the  firm  basis  of 
God's  Word.  Everything  human  shifts  and  changes.  Personal 
animosities  cannot  be  perpetuated  for  generations.  Factional 
interests  vanish  in  the  face  of  more  momentous  isaues.  It  is  a 
fundamental  Lutheran  principle,  that  the  true  sucxsvion  is  not 
that  of  standing  in  the  same  external  line  of  organization,  but 
solely  in  that  of  faith  and  doctrine.  Congregations,  synodfe, 
general  organizations,  change ;  but  beneath  these  changes  the 
Word  of  God  remains,  and  only  by  our  relation  to  this  standard, 
we  rise  or  fall.  It  is  no  concern  of  ours,  that  perhaps  a  hun- 
dred }'ears  ago,  some  synod  to  which  we  belong  was  deficient 
in  confessional  earnestness.  The  question  that  presses  itself 
upon  us  today  is  to  see  to  it  that  we  meet  aright  the  responsi- 
bilities that  God  is  now  laying  on  our  shoulders.  We  should 
not  labor  to  be  mechanically  consistent  with  a  past  history,  that 
we  can  neither  explain,  nor  justify ;  but  only  to  be  faithful  wit- 
nesses of  Christ  to  our  day  and  generation. 

Nevertheless,  howe\-er  desirable  that  those  who  are  so  close- 
ly related  should  be  more  thoroughly  united,  our  general  bodies 
have  not  convened  us  to  discuss  any  schemes  of  union.  Should 
the  time  ever  occur  for  such  prospositions  to  be  feasible,  the 
means  employed  would  not  be  a  Conference  like  this,  but  a 
representative  commission  of  theologians  and  expereinced  men, 
both  ministers  and  laymen,  whose  discussions  would  not  be  for 
the  general  public,  as  here,  but  would  necessarily  involve  de- 
tails of  a  more  private  and  confidential  character,  until  misun- 
derstandings were  rer.;oved.     Our  Lord  does  not  prescribe  as 


28  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

the  true  method  of  settling  differerces  between  brethren,  that 
they  should  each  proclaim  his  neighbor's  faults  from  the  house- 
top, but  he  bids  them  to  confer  first  in  private,  and  to  try  alone, 
in  God's  presence,  to  reach  an  agreement.  Public  disputations, 
where  parties  previously  alienated,  have  argued  for  victory, 
rarely  convince  either  contestant  of  the  untenableness  of  his 
position.  At  Leipsiz,  Eck  did  not  convert  either  Carlstadt  or 
Luther;  neither  did  Carlstadt  or  Luther  convert  Eck.  Luther 
and  Zwingli,  both  retired  from  Marburg,  more  firmly  entrench- 
ed each  in  his  position,  than  before  the  colloquy  opened. 
Such  discussions  often  drive  opponents  to  extremes  they  would 
never  have  reached,  if  they  had  not  been  compelled  to  defend 
them. 

And  yet.  this  need  not  deter  us  from  candidly  seeking,  in  the 
spirit  of  Christian  love  towards  one  another,  to  have  wrong  im- 
pressions removed,  that  we  believe  others  have  entertained  con- 
cerning us,  or,  in  so  doing,  to  even  enter  into  the  domain  of 
matters  that  have  been  involved  in  controversy.  I  think  that 
such  course  would  not  diminish  the  regard  we  have  for  each  oth- 
er, but,  on  the  other  hand,  only  increase  it.  We  respect  men  who 
are  as  open  as  the  day,  and  do  not  fear  to  express  their  full  con- 
victions. In  ministers  of  Christ  we  expect  nothing  less  than 
readiness,  at  all  times,  to  declare  all  the  counsel  of  God,  and 
to  give  a  reason  for  their  faith  to  every  one  that  asketh  it.  The 
statement  has  been  widely  made  from  divergent  sources  that  at 
the  Conference  of  1899  there  was  a  studious  avoidance  of  all 
questions  of  differences.  Such  criticism  is  scarcely  justi- 
fiable. Numerous  differences  appeared — and  those,  too,  on 
most  important  questions.  But  what  was  remarkable,  was,  that 
such  differences  were  not  in  accordance  with  our  ecclesiastical 
divisions,  but  across  them.  On  no  subject  discussed,  was  one 
ecclesiastical  body  pitted  against  the  other ;  thedifferences  man- 
ifested divided  both  bodies  that  were  thought  antagonistic. 
It  would  be  a  difficult  matter  to  find  representatives  of  either 
body  with  absolute  unanimity  antagonizing  the  represen- 
tatives of  the  other  body  arrayed  on  the  other  side  with  similar 
consent. 

We  can  scarcely  run  a  line  which  will  show  with  clearness 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  2  9 

the  exact  contour  of  the  ecclesiastical  cleavage.  Nor  should 
we  desire  this.  The  lines  of  division  at  the  former  Conference 
demonstrated  the  fact  that  common  influences  are  at  work  in  all 
three  bodies.  You  cannot  raise  the  walls  that  separate  us  so 
high,  or  sink  them  so  deep,  as  to  exclude  this  community  of  in- 
terests. 

We  must  also  learn  to  discriminate  between  the  testimony 
of  the  Church  as  a  whole,  or  in  its  representative  capacity,  and 
that  of  individual  members.  It  is  unfair  to  judge  an  entire 
Church  by  a  speaker  or  writer,  here  and  there,  to  whose  utter- 
ances such  Church  has  given  no  official  sanction.  There  is  none 
of  us  who  would  not  protest,  if  the  attempt  would  be  made  to 
hold  him  responsible  for  every  sentence  written  and  every  doc- 
trine taught  and  every  course  advocated  and  every  policy  pur- 
sued by  every  pastor  and  editor  and  teacher  in  the  particular 
Synod  or  General  Body  to  which  he  belongs.  You  will  not, 
therefore,  deem  us  as  partisan,  when  we  commend  that  state- 
ment in  the  Principles  of  Church  Polity  of  the  General  Council 
that  prescribes  that  it  is  only  "the  official  record"  that  "is  to  be 
accepted  as  evidence  of  the  doctrinal  position  of  each  Synod, 
and  of  the  principles,  for  which  alone  the  other  synods  become 
responsible  by  connection  with  it,"  If  it  be  urged  that  such 
official  record  is  valueless,  where  flagrant  departures  fron:  its 
prescriptions  and  even  violent  attacks  upon  its  clear  staten  ents 
can  be  found,  we  certainly  cannot  be  charged  with  indifference 
to  the  Confession  to  which  we  alike  subscribe,  when  we  ask : 
"In  what  Lutheran  body  is  absolute  conformity  of  all  members 
with  the  official  record  inforced  by  disciplinary  processes?"  The 
Church  on  earth  is  only  a  hospital,  filled  with  patients  at  va- 
rious stages  of  convalescence.  As  in  this  world  of  sin,  there  is 
no  human  character,  however  pure,  that  is  absolutely  unassail- 
able;  so  there  is  no  church  or  church  organization—  whether  it 
be  a  >.-ongregatio-!.  a  jvnod,  a  general  l.ody,  a  church  board, 
r  .1  theological  fa  jltv.  tl^at  is  beyond  criticism.  P.i  t  may  the 
I.ord  help  us  to  fijd  our  delight  raUier  in  tracing  t!  e  progres- 
sive workings  of  divine  grace  triumphing  over  sin  and  error 
and  prejudice ;  than  in  investigating  diligently  and  attempting 
to  measure  with  minutest  accuracy  and  to  proclaim  with  triumph 


30  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

the  amount  of  infirmity  still  remaining  in  a  partially  renewed 
nature.  Were  we  consistent  in  such  practice,  no  church,  no 
congregation,  no  family,  no  friendship,  could  ever  abide.  Let 
us  hear  a  confessional  declaration  on  this  subject.  We  quote 
from  the  Apology  of  the  Augsburg  Confession :  "Just  as  in  all 
families  and  in  all  States,  concord  should  be  nourished  by  mu- 
tual offices,  and  tranquility  cannot  be  retained,  unless  men  keep 
secret  and  forgive  certain  mistakes  among  themselves ;  so 
Paul  commands  that  love  exist,  in  order  that  it  may  in  the 
church  preserve  concord,  bear  with  the  harsher  manners  of 
brethren,  keep  secret  certain  less  serious  mistakes,  prevent  the 
church  from  flying  apart  into  various  schisms  and  enmities 
and  factious  and  heresies  from  arising  from  the  schisms." 

x\s  in  providing  for  this  series  of  Conferences,  the  General 
Synod  and  the  General  Council  have  qualified  their  action  with 
the  statement  that  no  change  of  the  doctrinal  basis  of  either 
body  was  intended,  permit  me  to  say  that  these  two  bases  are 
not  in  my  judgment  exclusive  of  each  other.  It  is  a  well  known 
fact  that  the  same  har.d  that  wrote  the  briefer  doctrinal  basis 
of  the  General  Synod,  wrote  also  the  more  extended  and  more 
explicit  basis  of  the  General  Council.  As  one  of  the  obstacles  to 
our  freest  co-o])eration,  the  misconception  ought  o  be  reiv.oved 
tliat  the  General  Council  regards  the  acceptance  of  the  doctrine 
of  the  Augsburg  Confession,  an  insufficient  test  and  guarantee  to 
the  Lathetan  chari"-1'T  of  fastors  and  teachers.  \Vhere\er 
ther.-  IS  "the  accej:)tance  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Au/,5bur|L'  Con- 
fession and  the  avowal  (if  them  without  equivoca' !'".  i  or  i-u-n- 
tal  reservation,  there  alone,"  says  the  official  declaration  of  the 
General  Council,  "is  the  Church  that  alone  is  the  Evangelical 
Lutheran  Church."  Even  though  the  Augsburg  Confession 
have  never  been  read  nor  subscribed,  if  the  faith  that  is  held 
and  taught  be  actually  that  of  the  Augsburg  Confession,  there 
is  an  end  of  all  controversy.  A  truly  Lutheran  Church  could 
be  organized  upon  the  basis  of  the  small  catechism  alone,  even 
without  the  Augsburg  Confession.  It  is  not  subscription  to 
the  confession  of  faith,  but  it  is  the  receiving,  teaching  and  de- 
fending the  faith  of  the  confession,  that  determines  our  position. 
Our  loyalty  to  the  ampler  confession   (and  as  years  advance 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  31 

our  admiration  of  these  documents  only  increases)  in  no  way 
interferes  with  our  cordial  recognition  as  Lutherans  of  all  who 
hold  unequivocally  and  simply  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Augs- 
burg Confession,  even  though  they  be  unwilling  to  prescribe 
any  further  ecclesiastical  test.  The  church  of  Norway  and 
of  Denmark  and  of  Iceland,  if  faithful  to  the  Augsburg  Con- 
fession, need  not  formally  endorse  any  of  the  confessions  that 
follow,  in  order  to  be  acknowledged  as  in  the  unity  of  the  faith. 
But  does  not  this  Conference  touch  even  deeper  interests? 
Why  should  the  uppermost  thought  in  our  deliberations  be 
concerning  the  section  of  the  church  we  represent  ?  Why  must 
the  question  of  our  relation  to  a  particular  church  organization 
alwa}'s  be  pushed  into  the  foreground?  Is  not  the  progress  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God  of  more  moment  than  that  of  even  the 
most  dearly  cherished  earthly  institution?  Is  there  not  a  med- 
ium between  the  selfish  individualism  that  seeks  to  evade  bur- 
dens by  pleading  its  independence  of  synods,  and  that  servili- 
ty that  has  no  appreciation  of  the  fundamental  principle  of 
Protestantism,  and  that  enunciated  at  Spires  "in  matters  per- 
taining to  God's  honor  and  our  soul's  salvation,  every  one  must 
stand  and  give  an  account  of  himself  before  God."  Questions  of 
ecclesiastical  policy  dwindle  into  insignificance  when  tnose 
concernirig  the  needs  and  the  responsibilities  and  th  growth 
in  the  divine  life  of  each  individual  soul  assert  then'selves. 
The  influence  that  is  permanent  in  the  history  of  Christianity 
is  not  that  of  the  ecclesiastical  politician  or  diplomat  but  that 
of  him  who,  through  agonizing  inner  strviggles,  comes  forth 
t-o  speak  the  word  that  a  wounded  conscience  most  needs,  and 
ever  turns  away  from  the  outward  life  to  seek  the  sources 
of  all  true  strength  in  communion  with  God.  As  Lutherans 
let  us  remember  that  the  name  we  bear  stands  not  so  ranch 
for  revered  spiritual  ancestors  and  historical  continuity,  for 
massive  systems  of  doctrine  and  clear  confessions  of  faith,  for 
an  elaborate  liturgy,  a  rich  hymnology,  a  soul-stirring  music, 
thoroughly  formulated  schemes  of  church  government,  as  for 
the  si4nple,  plain  and  direct  application  of  the  Gospel  to  the 
hearts  of  men.  The  real  strength  of  Lutheranism  lies  not  in 
the  refined  distinctions  of  scholasticism,  or  the  learned  opin- 


32  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

ions  of  erudite  scholars,  or  the  labyrinth  of  prescriptions  and 
decisions  of  ecclesiastical  courts,  that,  in  their  proper  place,  are 
not  to  be  over  looked,  but  in  its  ability  also,  at  the  proper  time 
and  place,  to  be  independent  of  all  such  supports.  It  is,  for 
this  reason,  that  Sixteenth  Century  Lutheranism  has  the  ad- 
vantage over  that  of  the  Seventeenth. 

We  were  born  and  baptised,  we  were  confirmed  and  or- 
dained, we  were  redeemed  and  justified,  not  to  be  valiant  advo- 
cates of  particular  church  parties,  but  to  be  witnesses  of  Christ, 
and  true  shepards  of  souls ;  and  if  there  be  aught  that  is 
precious  in  the  name  of  our  Church,  it  is  only  as  it  stands  for 
the  very  simplest  and  plainest  and  most  easily  understood 
form  of  the  Gospel.  This  constitutes  the  charm  of  our  cate- 
chism, and  the  rich  hymnology  of  our  Church,  and,  in  our 
opinion,  all  of  the  confessions  to  which  our  fathers  alike 
subscribed,  when  they  convened  in  the  old  Ministerium  more 
than  a  century  ago. 

Let  us  seek,  first  of  all,  to  be  faithful  to  our  calling  at  the 
very  center  of  our  spiritual  life.  Then  we  may  confidently  ex- 
pect that  God  will  lead  us  to  the  right  adjustment  of  all  ex- 
ternal relations. 

If  this  Conference  will  further  such  an  end,  our  meeting  will 
not  be  in  vain.  May  the  Holy  Spirit  abide  with  us.  and,  ac- 
cording to  our  Lord's  promise,  lead  us  into  all  truth.    Amen. 


JUSTIFICATION  BY  FAITH. 
By  the  Rev.  L.  G.  M.  Miller,  D.  D. 
Justification  is  that  act  of  God,  wherein  He  estimates  and 
declares  the  guilty  sinner  to  be  sinless  and  holy,  without  spot 
before  God,  and  the  possessor  of  everlasting  righteousness. 
In  justification  God  adjudges  the  sinner  to  be  in  purity  and 
holy  obedience,  that  Christ  is — even  as  Christ  was  adjudged 
to  be.  upon  the  cross,  where  "Fie  made  Him  to  be  sin  for  us," 
what  guilty  man  is.  A  justified  sinner  is  a  pardoned  sinner, 
accounted  clean  and  holy,  at  peace  with  God,  a  sinner  not  only 
not  condemned  by  the  broken  law,  but  actually  approved  there- 
by, and  for  whom  the  law  demands  acceptance  with  God,  as 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  83 

having  obeyed  it  in  every  particular,  for  "Christ  is  the  end  (or 
fulfinment)  of  the  law,  for  righteousness,  to  every  one  that  be- 
lieveth."  Justifying  faith  is  compounded  of  conviction  of  the 
verity  of  God's  promise,  of  pardon,  through  Christ,  and  per- 
sonal reliance  upon  the  same.  He  vi?ho  is  persuaded  of  the 
truth  of  God's  offer  of  pardon  through  Christ,  and  who  con- 
fidently relies  upon  that  promise  as  applicable  to,  and  effective 
upon  himself,  is  by  such  conviction  and  reliance,  and  by  that 
solely  and  alone,  justified. 

That  no  one  could  be  justified  by  his  own  works,  or  char- 
acter is  evident.  To  be  thus  justified,  one  would  need  to  be 
sinlessly  holy  in  heart  and  conduct  from  his  conception 
throughout — to  be  as  holy  as  God  is  holy.  He  would  need  to 
have  loved  God  with  all  the  heart  and  soul  and  mind  and 
strength,  and  his  neighbor  as  himself,  without  one  shadow  of 
failure  in  any  particular,  or  at  any  moment.  This  did  the  man, 
Christ  Jesus,  and  nothing  less  than  this  could  justify  any  man 
before  God  by  his  own  works.  In  the  nature  of  the  case  this 
is  utterly  impossible  to  the  guilty  sinner,  "for  all  have 
sinned,  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God."  Therefore,  "it 
follows,"  by  the  deeds  of  the  law  there  shall  no  flesh  be  jusi- 
fied  in  his  sight."  for  "the  Scripture  hath  concluded  all  under 
sin." 

Nor  is  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  peculiar  to  the 
New  Testament,  for  from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  no  guilty 
sinner  has  ever  been  justified  in  any  other  way.  In  Eden  God 
said  to  our  first  parents,  "It  (the  woman's  seed)  shall  bruise 
thy  (the  serpent's)  head  and  thou  shalt  bruise  his  heel."  Most 
wonderfully  is  Christ  here  designated,  he  only,  of  all  the  hu- 
man race,  is  properly  the  seed  of  the  woman.  In  this  first 
promise  is  contained  his  incarnation,  the  absolute  uniqueness 
of  his  birth.  His  atoning  sufferings  ("Shall  bruise  his  heel"), 
and  His  victory.  This  wonderful  promise  Adam  and  Eve 
simply  and  heartily  believed,  and  in  and  by  this  faith  were 
justified.  This  was  also  true  of  the  patriarchs,  from  Adam 
to  Abraham.  The  same  blessed  promise  was  repeated  and  am- 
plified to  Abraham,  and  of  him  it  is  testified,  "Abraham 
believed  God,  and  it  was  counted  unto  him  for  righteousness." 


34  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

Nor  were  the  Jews  the  less  justified  by  faith,  under  the  Mosaic 
dispensation.  They  could  no  more  then  have  been  justified  by 
the  works  of  the  law,  than  now.  During  all  that  peiiod,  they 
were  pardoned  through  the  blood  of  the  sacrifices  continually 
oflfered."  not  through  their  fulfillment  of  the  law.  Their  faith 
laid  hold  of  the  promised  forgiveness  through  the  sacrifices, 
and  thus  they  were  justified.  As  those  sacrifices  directly  typi- 
fied Christ,  their  faith  in  the  blood  of  the  ofifering  was  faith 
in  the  Blood  of  Christ.  The  Scripture  says,  "And  the  priest 
shall  make  an  atonement  for  them,  and  it  shall  be  forgiven 
them."  They  were  forgiven  then  through  faith  in  the 
blood  of  that  atonement,  or  in  other  words,  through  Christ's 
blood  and  not  through  obedience  to  the  law.  On  the  great 
day  of  Atonement,  when  the  High  Priest  alone  went  within 
the  veil,  to  deal  with  God  concerning  the  sins  of  the  whole 
people,  it  was  the  blood  sprinkled  before  and  upon  the  mercy 
seat  that  secured  pardon,  that  pardon  being  grasped  and  real- 
ized by  faith  alone.  "For  the  life  of  the  flesh  is  in  the  blood ; 
and  I  have  given  it  to  you  upon  the  altar,  to  make  atonement 
for  the  soul."  Surely  under  the  very  dispensation  of  the  law 
if  anywhere,  pardon  of  sin  would  have  been  sought  and  found 
by  the  law.  But  it  was  not  so,  indeed,  could  not  have  been 
so.  There,  as  everyA\here  else,  God's  plan  was  justification  by 
faith  alone,  in  Christ's  atoning  sacrifice.  But  let  us  inquire 
more  particularly  what  is  that  sole  and  special  object  upon 
which  faith  lays  hold,  in  order  to  be  justifying.  Here  there 
should  be  no  obscurity,  or  even  shadow  of  uncertainty. 

Faith  in  God,  as  the  Creator  and  Supreme  Ruler  of  ail,  will 
.1))'  no  means  justify,  though  not  a  few  seem  to  cherish  that 
: foolish  notion.  Nor  will  faith  in  God,  as  set  forth  m  tlu;  Old 
1  estament  alone,  the  fa  fh  of  the  devout  Jew  today,  justify. 
Noi  will  faith  in  Christ,  as  the  most  exalted  of  all  creatures, 
rhe  Sjupreme  Teacher  and  t.xemplar,  justify.  So  the  Arians 
or  Unitarians  regard  Christ.  But  such  faith  is  utterly  futile 
and  vain.  Nay,  it  even  makes  Christ  a  liar  and  impostor,  see- 
ing He  expressly  claimed  Godhead.  Not  even  could  we  say 
'that. the  most  special  object  of  justifying  faith  is  the  entire 
Christ,  in  His  person  and  work,including  His  incarnation,  and 


PROCKEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  35 

His  life  and  ministry,  His  example,  and  the  whole  body  of  His 
teachings.  Not  that  Supreme  faith  in  all  these  is  not  included 
in  evangelical  belief.  Far  be  it  from  us  to  underrate,  in  the 
smallest  degree,  the  neccesity  of  faith  in  these,  even  as  God's 
Word  sets  them  forth.  But  now  our  inquiry  is  as  to  the  par- 
ticular object,apart  from  all  else,  the  most  immediate  and 
special  object  upon  which  faith  lays  hold,in  order  to  constitute 
it  justifying  or  saving  faith.  Most  strictly  speaking  it  would 
be  not  clearly  and  entirely  correct  to  say  that  faith  in  Christ 
justifies — even  faith  in  the  true  and  very  God-man,  Christ  Jesus, 
the  very  Scriptural  Christ — faith  in  His  person  and  character, 
His  example.  His  ministry.  His  miracles — faith  in  any  or  all 
of  these  combined,  if  it  stop  there.would  never  justify  one 
single  sinner.  Had  the  eternal  Son,  one  in  essence,  dignity  and 
glory,  with  the  Father,  become  incarnate,  even  as  He  did,  had 
he  lived  and  taught  and  wrought,  just  as  he  did,  up  to  the  very 
foot  of  the  cross,  and  then,  without  the  suffering  of  death,  as- 
cended to  the  Father,  leaving  behind  the  legacy  of  His  life, 
teachings,  miracles  and  example,  not  one  solitary  sinner  could 
ever  have  been  pardoned  and  saved.  Even  Christ,  the  true 
Christ,  in  all  these  glorious  characters  and  activities,  if  we  were 
to  stop  with  these,  is  not  the  most  immediate  object  of  saving 
faith,  which  such  faith  relies  on  in  order  to  be  justified. 

Be  it  forever  remembered  then,  that  not  even  faith  in  Christ 
justifies,  if  we  would  be  unmistakably  clear  and  explicit — but 
faith  in  Christ  crucified,  Christ  crucified,  alone.  The  most 
glorious  Christ,  even  our  own  blessed  Christ  of  Holy  Scripture, 
iincruciiied,  could  never  save.  It  was  not  the  life  of  Jesus  that 
purchased  redemption  from  sin,  but  his  death,  only,  alone,  and 
forever,  his  death,  It  is  "the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away 
the  sin  of  the  world."  Now  Christ  in  the  character  of  teacher, 
or  miracle-worker,  or  exemplar,  is  not  "the  Lamb  of  God.  On 
the  cross  alone,  bleeding  and  dying  under  the  load  of  our 
sins — there  he  is  "the  Lamb  of  God",  and  in  that  character 
only  "He  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world."  "He  tasted  death 
for  every  man",  and  it  was  only  in  His  tasting  death  that  we 
were  delivered  from  death.  Had  he  not  been  made  "sin  for  us, 
who  knew  no  sin",  we  never  could  have  been  made  "the  right- 


36  I'ROCEEDIXGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

eousness  of  God  in  Him."  But  it  was  on  the  cross,  on  the  crosi; 
alone,  that  he  was  effectually  made  sin  for  us.  There,  and 
only  there,  "the  Lord  hath  laid  on  Him  the  iniquities  of  us  all." 
It  was  ''on  the  tree"  that  "He  bore  our  sins  in  His  own  body," 
and  had  He  not  borne  them  for  us,  we  would  have  had  to  bear 
them  forever.  It  is  "the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  His  Son",  that 
"cleanseth  us  from  all  sin" — not  His  life.  His'  ministry.  His 
miracles.  His  example,  but  only  and  alone  and  forever  His 
blood.  Apart  from  His  blood  there  could  have  been  no  pardon, 
no  cleansing,  no  peace  witli  God,  no  ju^ti^cation.  "Without 
the  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission."  "And  you  hath 
He  quickened  together  with  Him,  having  forgiven  you  all  tres- 
passes, blotting  out  the  handwriting  of  ordinances  that  was 
against  us,  which  was  contrary  to  us.  and  took  it  out  of  the 
way,  nailing  it  to  His  cross." 

The  power  that  quickened  the  dead  Christ,  in  His  grave,  that 
power  alone  could  quicken  into  everlasting  life  a  sinner,  dead 
in  trespasses  and  sins.  Such  quickening  power  was  only  availa- 
ble to  the  sinner,  and  able  to  go  into  effect  upon  him,  because 
it  first  quickened  and  went  into  effect  upon  a  Christ  crucified 
to  death  for  our  offences.  Xo  other  hand  than  the  hand  nailed 
to  the  cross,  not  even  Christ  own  hand  otherwise,  could  have 
taken  away  that  dread  "handwriting  that  was  against  us,  con- 
trary to  us" — to  the  cross  alone  could  it  have  been  nailed. 
Only  His  blood  could  effectually  blot  it  out.  Our  blessed  Lord 
said,  with  diicct  reference  lo  His  own  death:  "W-^rily,  verily  I 
say  unto  -(du,  except  a  c  .11  rf  wheat  fall  into  the  ground  and 
die,  it  abideth  alone ;  but  if  it  die,  it  bringeth  forth  much  fruit.' 
Christ  Himself  is  that  corn  of  wheat.  Had  He  not  died.  His 
>n:.ssion  to  earth  would  ha /e  been  utterly  barrel  1.  !  !c  could  Inve 
saved  no  sinners.  He  could  have  taken  none  with  Him  to  glory. 
He  W(juid  liave  abode  aiorc.  Only  by  virtue  of  J  lis  atoning 
death  could  Lie  bring  forth  a  blessed  fruitage  of  ransomed 
■iuwh.  'AvA  I,  if  I  be  .iricd  up.  will  d-av  all  men  unto 
me."  But  that  is  the  indispensable  condition.  He  must  be 
"lifted  up."  Only  a  "lifted  up"  Christ  can  draw  and  save  sin- 
nei!>  .\!-  .Nioses  lifted  up  'lie  serpent  in  tbo  wilderness,  even 
so  must  the  Son  of  man  be  lifted  up,  that  who.soevcr  believetb 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE,  37 

in  Him,  should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life."  Notice  well, 
it  is  not  to  one  who  simply  believes  in  the  Son  of  man,  that 
eternal  life  is  promised,  but  ••.  the  lilted  uv-  Son  of  man.  Only 
as  lifted  up  can  He  impart  eternal  life.  It  is  with  His  str'pes 
that  we  must  be  healed,  "When  thou  shalt  make  His  soul 
an  offering  for  sin  He  shall  see  His  seed,  He  shall  prolong  His 
days,  and  the  pleasure  of  the  Lord  shall  prosper  in  His  hand," 
Only  as  sin-offering  could  He  beget  his  seed — only  as  such 
could  His  days  be  prolonged  in  the  eternity  of  the  blessedness 
of  the  redeemed,  only  as  sin-offering  had  he  power  to  make 
His  Father's  pleasure  to  prosper  in  the  salvation  of  sinners. 

If  it  be  asked  then,  What  is  the  most  particular  grou.id,  the 
special  object,  the  one  sole  thing  upon  which  faith  relies,  in 
order  to  make  it  justifying?  we  reply:  Faith,  in  order  that  it 
may  justify  or  save,  must  rely,  most  specially  and  ultimately, 
upon  the  sacrificial,  atoning,  vicarious  death  of  Christ — upon 
the  blood  of  the  cross — upon  that  alone  and  forever.  Mark 
this  vrell,  for  it  is  often  denied  and  ridiculed,  where  it  ought 
to  be  magnified  and  sounded  abroad  with  trumpet  tongue.  It 
is  just  this  that  the  sinner  needs  to  know,  if  he  knows  nothing 
else,  yes,  and  the  saint  as  well.  There  must  be  no  fog  here. 
Here  all  must  be  plain  and  evident  as  the  day  and  clear  as  the 
simlight.  Here,  here,  in  the  cross  of  Christ  alone  lies  life  and 
-:i'vati:)n.  "I"h  ii  let  fait'i  be  firmly  fixed  upc  i  that  great  trans- 
action on  the  cross.  Let  it  confide  wholly  in  that  as  the  full, 
free,  and  infinitely  adequate  satisfaction  for  the  sins  of  the 
whole  world.  By  that  glorious  death  every  possible  claim  of 
God's  justice  has  been  fully  met  and  upon  that,  that,  that,  we 
are  to  rest  assuredly  for  pardon  and  salvation.  In  that  act  of 
simple,  personal  confidence  in  the  blood  of  the  cross  the  sin- 
ner obtains  freely,without  work  or  merit,  just  as  he  is,  for- 
giveness of  sin  and  eternal  life.  "Be  it  known  unto  you,  there- 
fore, men  and  brethren,  that  through  this  one  is  preached  unto 
you  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  And  by  him  all  that  believe  are  jus- 
tified from  all  things,  from  which  ye  ,could  not  be  justified  by 
the  law  of  Moses,"  This  then  is  what  we  mean  by  justification 
by  faith — tlie  complete  pardon  of  the  guilty  sinner,  his  passage 
from  death  unto  life,  v.hen  he  simply  and  nakedly  trusts  in 


88„  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

Christ's  atonino;  sacrifice  as  offered  for  him  himself  and  con- 
fidently considers  himself  forgiven  and  saved  by  virtue  of 
Christ's  death  for  him.  And  the  more  artlessly,  unhesitating- 
ly, and  assuredly  he  confides  in  the  sole  merit  of  the  precious 
blood,  the  better  it  is.  When  conscience  accuses,  and  our  sins 
terrify  us.  when  the  law  thunders  out  its  condemnation,  and 
the  heart  begins  to  sink  and  fail,  we  cannot  set  over  against 
these  terrors  our  own  deep  repentance,  our  prayers  and  re- 
solves, nor  our  virtues  and  charities,  etc.,  and  so  obtain  con- 
solation. But  over  against  such  terrors,  we  are  to  set  the  cross 
alone.  With  the  cross  only  can  we  hush  the  accusings  of  con- 
science, and  the  law's  dreadful  threatenings.  Only  behind  the 
cross,  in  all  this  universe,  the  sinner  can  confidently  say,  "It  is 
God  that  justifieth — who  is  he  that  condemneth?  It  is  Christ 
that  died,  yea.  rather,  that  is  risen  again,  who  is  even  at  the 
right  hand  of  God,  who  also  maketh  intercession  for  us."  In 
the  Pilgrim's  Progress,  Christian  is  represented  with  a  burden 
on  his  back.  There  it  immovably  stuck,  until  he  came  to  a 
place  where  he  saw  before  him  a  cross.  As  he  looked  there- 
upon, his  burden  loosed  of  itself  from  off  his  shoulders,  and 
fell  from  him,  and  rolled  into  an  open  sepulchre.  So  it  is.  No 
efforts  of  our  own,  however  skilful  and  strenuous,  can  relieve 
us  of  our  burden  of  sin.  But  when  we  turn  to  the  cross,  and 
there  behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  and  rely  upon  the  blood  shed 
for  us,  there  and  then  the  burden  disappears,  swallowd  up  for- 
ever in  the  Savior's  tomb.  "Being  justified  by  faith",  in  that 
wondrous  propitiatory  sacrifice,  "we  have  peace  with  God, 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

Some  emasculate  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement,  and  annul 
^■■!e  doctrine  of  justification,  by  claiming  that  the  chief  neces- 
sity and  use  of  the  atonement,  was  to  exhibit  the  self-sacrificing 
love  of  God,  and  so  to  impress  and  move  man's  heart.  But  its 
primary  design  and  efficacy  is  to  Godward  and  not  to  man- 
ward.  Its  necessity  grows  out  of  the  eternal  nature  of  the  God- 
head. Its  first  great  design  was  and  is  truly  and  really  to  sat- 
isfy God's  justice — to  .render  it  possible  for  God  to  exercise 
His  mercy  upon  sinful  man,  without  compromising  His  char- 
acter and  word — "that  He  might  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  39 

him  which  believeth  in  Jesus.''  Notice  well,  we  do  not  say  to 
originate  mercy  in  God's  heart  toward  sinners,  but  only  to 
make  way  for  its  exercise,  consistent  with  the  righteousness  of 
God.  When  the  high  priest  went  within  the  veil,  on  the  great 
day  of  atonement,  to  deal  with  God  concerning  the  sins  of  the 
people,  all  the  people  were  shut  out.  No  human  eye  saw  that 
awful  interview.  It  was  between  the  high  priest  (typifying 
Christ)  and  the  Father  alone.  And  yet,  between  these  alone, 
before  that  sublime  interview  could  take  place,  the  blood  must 
be  sprinkled  on  and  before  the  mercy-seat.  Only  on  the  basis 
of  the  blood  could  he  intercede  for  their  pardon.  Otherwise 
than  on  the  blood  alone  he  dared  not  stand  before  God,  to  seek 
forgiveness  for  the  sins  of  the  people.  The  blood  was  indis- 
pensible  there.  But  this  transaction  on  the  day  of  atonement 
was  God's  own  appointed  type  of  the  ineffable  counsellings  be- 
tween the  Father  and  the  Son,  is  the  sublime  secrecy  of  the 
God  head.  According  to  this  God-given  type  then,  even  in  the 
hidden  counsels  of  the  adorable  Trinity,  the  Son  could  not  ap- 
proach the  Father  to  secure  the  sinner's  pardon,  save  only  by 
and  through  the  blood.  Without  the  blood  the  Father  had  he 
pardoned  man  would  have  forfeited  His  Word,  com- 
promised His  justice,  and  wrecked  His  character.  The  prec- 
ious blood  alone  could  open  up  the  way  for  the  downflow  of 
His  mercy  upon  sinful  man,  and  enable  Him  to  exercise  the 
pardoning  love  of  His  holy  heart  upon  him,  whilst  maintaining 
unsullied  every  glorious  attribute  of  his  nature. 

If  this  be  the  true  doctrine  of  the  atonement,  as  it  surely  is, 
it  inevitably  follows  that  the  atoner  must  be  true  and  very  God, 
as  well  as  man.  An  angel,  or  a  being  even  more  exalted,  yet 
not  God,  might  have  been  an  example,  or  given  an  exhibition 
of  self-sacrificing  love.  But  no  being  not  of  the  same  essence 
and  nature  as  the  Father,  that  is,  no  other  than  one  of  the  co- 
equal persons  of  the  adorable  Trinity,  could  have  satisfied  the 
claims  of  the  divine  nature  and  character  in  the  atoning  act. 
No  other  would  have  been  adequate  to  remove  the  hindrance 
to  the  exercise  of  the  divine  love 'and  mercy  upon  sinful  man. 
The  integrity  of  the  doctrine  of  justification,  therefore,  requires 
belief  in  the  supreme  Godhead  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.     So 


40  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

it  does  also  in  the  total  depravity  of  sinful     man,     and     the 
eternal  consequences  of  sin  unatoned. 

Faith  in  Christ  is  not  a  mere  barren  conviction  of  the  in- 
tellect, but  a  mighty,  energetic  and  energerizing 
principle.  This  it  is,  not  because  it  has  of  itself 
any  peculiar  power,  but  solely  because  of  the 
object  which  it  embraces,  that  is,  Christ  Jesus.  When  it 
lays  hold  of  Him,  it  necessarily  lays  hold  of  the  almighty  power 
and  grace  which  He  embodies,  and  that  power  at  once  effect- 
uates the  vivifying,  cleansing  and  transforming  of  the  sinner. 

How  wonderful  then,  in  its  amazing  consequences,  is  the 
simple  confidence  of  the  heart  in  the  atoning  sacrifice  of  Christ 
our  Lord !  Many  stumble  at  its  very  simplicity,  and  can  scarce- 
ly believe  that  an  exercise  of  mind  and  heart  so  plain,  so  di- 
rect, so  unpretentious,  so  available  to  even  a  little  child,  could 
possibly  entail  such  momentous  results.  Yet  such  is  God's  plan. 
"Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved." 
"Thy  faith  hath  saved  thee."  "Look  unto  me  and  be  ye  saved, 
all  the  ends  of  the  earth."  "But  to  him  that  worketh  not,  but 
believeth  on  Him  that  justifieth  the  ungodly,  his  faith  is  count- 
ed for  righteousness." 

Justification  by  faith  alone  is  the  very  heart  and  soul  of  the 
Gospel.  Yea,  it  is  the  Gospel — without  it  there  would  be  no 
Gospel.  Concerning  it  Luther  on  Galatians  says:  "Paul  ad- 
monisheth  as  well  teachers  as  hearers  to  take  heed  that  they 
esteem  not  the  doctrine  of  faith  as  a  light  matter,  wherewith 
they  maj'  dally  at  their  pleasure.  It  is  a  bright  sunbeam,  com- 
ing down  from  heaven,  that  enlighteneth,  directeth,  and  guid- 
eth  us.  There  can  be  nothing  added  to  the  doctrine  of  faith, 
or  taken  from  it — for  that  is  an  utter  defacing  and  overthrow- 
ing of  the  whole."  In  the  Smalcald  Articles  it  is  said :  "Of  this 
article"  justification  by  faith  alone)  "nothing  can  be  yielded 
or  surrendered,  even  though  heaven  and  earth,  and  all  things 
should  sink  to  ruin.  And. upon  this  article  all  things  depend 
which  we  teach  and  practice.  Therefore  we  must  be  sure 
concerning  this  doctriric,  and  not  doubt,  for  otherw'^.^  all  is 
lost   and  tl:e  ix.pe  and  devil,  and  all  things  against  us,  gain  die 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  41 

victory  and  suit."  If  the  pulpit  has  lost  in  power,  it  is  because 
this  heavenly  doctrine  is  perverted  and  obscured  in  a  thous- 
and ways,  as  indeed  it  is.  If  the  pulpit  then  would  regain  its 
hold  upon  the  masses,  this  is  not  to  be  sought  in  all  manner 
of  humanitarian  effort,  and  social  reform,  and  ethical  exposi- 
tion, but  in  a  firmer  grasp  upon,  and  more  faithful  presentation 
of,  the  great  doctrine,  the  blessed  Scripture  fact,  of  free  par- 
don through  the  blood  of  the  crucified,  apprehended  by  faith 
solely  and  alone.  What  the  pulpit  needs  is  the  power  of  God, 
and  only  thus  can  that  power  be  realized,  "For  tlie  preaching 
of  the  cross  is  to  them  that  perish  foolishness ;  but  unto  us 
which  are  saved  it  is  the  power  of  God."  If  we  would  have 
that  power  then,  we  must  have  that  preaching.  And  for  a 
right  knowledge  of  this  heavenly  teaching,  there  are  no  unin- 
spired documents  on  earth,  we  believe,  of  any  time,  or  in  any 
language,  so  clear  and  adequate  as  the  Apology  of  Melanchthon 
and  Luther's  Commentary  on  Galatians — as  also,  indeed,  the 
rest  of  the  Confessional  writings.  In  this  day  of  vain  and  shift- 
ing speculation  upon  things  divine,  of  shallow  and  popular,  of 
conceited  and  worldly-wise  criticism  of  the  Word  of  God,  and 
its  most  fundamental  teachings,  all  ministers  and  theological 
students,  should  constantly  and  faithfully  exercise  themselves 
in  these  writings.  They  are  the  very  rock-bed,  the  marrow 
and  fatness  of  the  Gospel,  and  can  never  become  antiquated  or 
out  of  date,  any  more  than  can  the  Gospel  itself,  whose  pure 
exponents  and  faithful  witnesses  they  are.  There  is  no  might- 
ier antidote  against  the  incipient  infidelity  and  apostacy,  so 
evident  everywhere,  excepting  the  Holy  Scriptures  themselves, 
than  are  these  writings,  these  clear  and  profound  testimonies  to 
the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  And  yet  so  simply  and  plainly  are 
they  stated,  that  our  laity  too  could  avail  themselves  of  them, 
as  well  as  our  ministry,  and  this  they  should  everywhere  be  en- 
couraged to  do. 


42  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

THE  DOCTRLXE  OF  JUSTIFICATION  IN  ITS  RELA- 
TIONS.* 
By  Prof.  J.  IV.  Richard,  D.  D. 

The  knowledge  of  objects  involves  knowledge  of  their  rela- 
tions. We  know  objects  in  their  relations  to  ourselves,  to 
cause  and  effect,  and  to  environment;  and  the  better  we  know 
the  relations  of  objects  the  better  we  know  the  objects.  This 
principle  is  as  true  of  thought-objects  as  it  is  of  object-objects. 
Any  of  our  psychical  experiences  are  thought-objects  when  we 
hold  them  up  before  the  mind,  and  contemplate  them  in  their 
relations  to  ourselves,  to  their  causes,  to  their  effects,  and  to 
other  thoughts.  We  may  also  concentrate  our  thoughts,  and 
translate  them  into  propositions,  and  may  analyze  them  and 
combine  them  in  concepts.  In  this  way  we  systematize  our 
thoughts  and  create  science,  whether  it  be  the  science  of 
material  objects,  or  the  science  of  psychical  experiences.  And 
the  more  we  generalize  our  concepts  the  more  do  we  become 
convinced  that  there  is  a  mysterious,  but  real  nexus  that  links 
phenomenon  to  phenomenon,  and  finally  connects  phenomena 
with  a  common  ground  of  existence,  which  we  call  a  funda- 
mental principle,  and  which  comes  to  be  conceived  of  not  only 
as  a  principiiim  essendi,  but  as  an  active  agency  that  has  more 
or  less  to  do  in  determining  the  nature  and  significance  of  the 
phenomena. 

Now  among  the  phenomena  of  the  human  soul  none  is  more 
real,  none  more  potent  than  the  Christian  experience.  It  is 
known  as  a  distinct  fact  in  consciousness ;  it  is  known  in  re- 
lation to  a  remembered  antithetical  experience,  in  relation  to 
its  cause,  and  in  relation  to  its  effects.  This  Christian  experi- 
ence is  the  consciousness  of  enmity  slain,  of  sin  pardoned,  of 
fellowship  with  God,  of  salvation.  This  Christian  experience 
is  expressed  in  the  theological  vocabulary  by  the  word  Justifi- 
cation, that  is,  Justification  of  the  righteousness  of  faith  accord- 


*  About  twelve  pages  of  Dr.  Richard's  essay  as  here  printed  were  not  read  before 
the  Conference,  the  time  allotted  tffl  each  paper  not  permitting  its  presentation  in  its 
entirety.  Even  as  it  appears,  it  has  been  necessary  to  omit  about  twelve  additional 
pages.  The  publishers  regret  that  space  will  not  permit  the  printing  of  the  essa3' in 
its  entirety. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  .^43 

ing  to  its  subjective  side,  the  personal  certainty  the  Christian 
has  that  he  stands  in  a  new  relation  to  God,  and  that  he  is 
renewed  in  his  mind  after  the  image  of  him  that  created  him. 

It  was  exactly  in  this  way  that  Justification  was  at  first 
known  and  contemplated  by  Luther.  After  a  long  and  dreary 
night  of  doubt  and  spiritual  agony,  he  threw  himself  by  faith 
on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  experienced  peace  and  salvation  ; 
and  at  the  same  time  he  realized  that  he  had  become  a  new 
creature.  Out  of  this,  Luther's  personal  experience  of  salva- 
tion, the  Lutheran  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century  was 
born ;  and  it  was  only  because  Justification  had  in  it  this  pow- 
erful element  of  personal  experience,  that  it  could  become  a 
genetic  principle  that  imparted  life  to  others  and  caused  a  re- 
ligious movement  the  most  far-reaching  and  beneficent  of  any 
in  the  history  of  Christianity. 

But  while  on  the  one  hand  Luther  contemplated  Justification 
as  the  experience  of  salvation,  he  at  the  same  time  on  the 
other  hand  contemplated  it  as  an  act  of  God,  an  actus 
forensis  by  which  God  declared  him  righteous,  and  brought 
him  into  fellowship  with  himself.  This  is  the  objective  side  of 
Justification. 

Now  it  is.  that  is.  when  we  put  together  the  two  sides,  that 
we  have  Justification  in  its  complete  conception,  as  an  act  of 
divine  grace  by  which  man  who  was  injustus  is  declared  Justus 
before  God  and  is  Justus ;  though  this  conception  did  not  come 
to  Luther  as  a  doctrine,  in  the  sense  of  an  article  of  faith,  or  as 
an  ecclesiastical  or  theological  dogma  that  must  be  believed. 
It  was  only  when  the  period  of  reflection,  of  analysis  and 
synthesis,  came,  that  men  began  to  contemplate  Justification 
as  an  article  of  faith,  as  a  doctrine  or  teaching  of  the  divine 
word,  and  sought  to  discover  its  place  and  its  relations ;  in  other 
words,  sought  to  know  it  scientifically. 

Holding  these  fundamental  principles  in  view  we  advance 
naturally  to  the  discussion  of  Justification  in  its  Relations.  But 
before  that  can  be  done  properly,  it  will  be  necessary  to  ascer- 
tain the  place,  that  is,  the  significance,  the  content,  and  the 
extent  of  the  theological  conception,  JustiUcation.  This  can 
be  done  best  by  pursuing  the  inductive  or  historical  method. 


44  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

To  Luther  Justification  was  salvation.  By  the  one  declara- 
tive act  of  God,  he  knew  himself  to  be  in  possession  of  all  that 
the  Gospel  has  to  offer.  He  had  the  pardon  of  sin  and  adop- 
tion into  the  favor  of  God.  More  than  this  the  Gospel  does 
not  offer  for  the  present  life.  Hence  he  could  say  that  Justi- 
fication is  the  supreme  article  of  faith,  and  the  article  of  a 
standing  or  falling  Church,  meaning  that  it  stands  at  the  head 
of  the  Christian  system,  and  that  if  it  be  kept  in  its  proper 
place,  the  Church  will  prosper ;  but  that  if  it  be  thrust  from  its 
central  position  the  Church  will  fail.  This  conception  of  the 
article  in  its  objective  character  at  once  gives  it  a  normative 
and  determinative  place  in  the  ordo  saliitis.  This  article  as 
standing  at  the  head,  or  center,  as  the  eternal  principle  of 
Christianity,  as  in  its  practical  application  the  end  for  which 
Christ  came  into  the  world,  was  used  by  Luther  for  judging 
the  measure,  proportions  and  validity  of  all  other  articles  of 
the  Christian  faith.  Even  the  Scriptures  themselves  were  to  be 
discriminated  by  this  article ;  for  a  book  of  Scripture  that  does 
not  teach  faith  in  Christ  is  not  to  be  esteemed  so  highly  as  one 
that  does  teach  faith  in  him  (Erl.  Ed.  63  :  156-8.)  ;  for  faith 
in  Christ  is  everything. 

Hence  vve  hear  Luther  say  in  the  preface  to  the  Connncntary 
on  Galatians:  "In  my  heart  this  article  alone  reigns,  viz..  the 
faith  of  Christ,  from  whom,  through  and  to  whom,  my  theo- 
logical meditations  flow  and  reflov/  continuallv."  Again: 
"Wherefore  it  is  very  necessary  that  this  doctrine  be  kept  in 
continued  practice  and  public  exercise  both  of  reading  and 
hearing.  And  although  it  be  never  so  well  known,  never  so 
exactly  learned,  yet  the  devil,  who  continually  rageth  abour 
seeking  to  devour  us,  is  not  dead.  Likewise  our  flesh  and  old 
man  are  yet  alive.  Besides  this  all  kinds  of  temptations  vex 
and  oppress  us  on  every  side ;  wherefore  this  doctrine  can  never 
be  taught,  urged  and  repeated  enough.  If  this  doctrine  be  lost, 
then  is  also  the  doctrine  of  truth,  life  and  salvation  lost  and 
_gone.  If  this  doctrine  flourish,  then  all  good  things  flourish: 
Religion,  the  true  service  of  God.  the  glory  of  God,  the  right 
knowledge  of  all  things  that  are  necessary  for  a  Christian  man 
to  know."     (Erl.  Ed.  L  3,  4.  12.) 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  45 

In  1530  b.e  wrote  to  Brentz :  "This  gift  of  God,  besides 
others,  I  particularly  admire  and  venerate  in  you.  In  all  your 
writings  you  faithfully  and  correctly  urge  the  righteousness  of 
faith.  This  article  is  the  head  and  corner-stone.  It  alone  be- 
gets, nourishes,  edifies,  defends  the  Church  of  God.  Without 
this  article  the  Church  of  God  cannot  subsist  a  single  hour,  as 
you  know  and  perceive.  No  one  can  teach  rightly  in  the 
Church  nor  successfully  resist  an  opponent  who  does  not  hold 
this  article,  as  Paul  calls  it  this  sound  doctrine."  (DeWett  IV, 
150.)  In  1536  he  wrote:  "The  article  of  Justification  and  it 
alone,  makes  true  theologians.  Therefore  it  is  necessary  in 
the  Church,  and  it  is  to  be  often  repeated."  (Dissertationen, 
p.  39.)  And  in  1538:  "Beyond  all  controversy  the  article  of 
Justification  is  the  head  and  sum  of  the  Christian  doctrine. 
When  this  is  properly  comprehended  there  is  no  danger  either 
on  tlie  right  hand,  or  on  the  left.  For  this  it  is  that  bruises 
the  serpent's  head,  and  overthrows  whatever  is  opposed  to 
Christ.  Hence  this  article  most  of  all  is  exposed  to  the  bite 
of  the  serpent,  and  to  every  kind  of  attack,  in  order  that  it  may 
be  overthrown  and  perverted.  Satan  perceives  that  so  long  as 
this  article  remains  intact,  he  labors  in  vain."  (Dissertationen, 
p.  463.) 

These  quotations  show  that  Luther  attached  supreme  mi- 
portance  to  the  Article  of  Justification.  He  placed  it  at  the 
very  head  of  the  Christian  system,  and  practically  identned  it 
with  the  sum  of  Christianity.  Equally  evident  is  it  that  he 
regarded  Justification  as  the  genetic  principle  of  the  entire 
Christian  doctrinal  system.  He  says :  "In  this  article  David 
liolds  up  to  us  the  sum  of  the  entire  Christian  doctrine,  and 
the  clear,  beautiful  sun  that  illumines  the  Christian  congrega- 
tion. If  this  article  be  grasped  with  sure  and  firm  faith,  and 
be  maintained,  then  the  others  follow  gradually  after."  Also: 
"Therefore  the  Article  of  Justification,  as  -I  have  often  said, 
must  be  diligently  learned.  For  in  this  are  embraced  all  the 
articles  of  our  faith,  and  if  this  be  kept  intact,  all  the  others  are 
safe."     (Com.  on  Galat.  II,  23.) 

Not  less  emphatic  is  Melanchthon  in  assigning  the  first  place 
to  Justification :     "Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are 


46  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

heavy  laden.  When  you  have  sinned  you  will  not  quiet  your 
conscience  by  work ;  but  alone  by  faith  in  Christ  you  will  find 
peace,  when  you  believe  that  he  has  borne  your  sins.  This  is 
that  confession  on  which  the  Church  is  founded.  Against  this 
the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail."  (C.  R.  21  :  55.)  In  his 
analysis  of  the  epistle  to  the  Romans  he  devotes  thirteen  short 
chapters  to  Justification,  and  only  a  few  words  to  Predestina- 
tion. In  the  Loci  he  declares :  "This  article  contains  the  sum 
of  the  Gospel  for  it  shows  the  proper  benefit  of  Christ,  offers 
a  sure  consolation  to  pious  souls,  teaches  what  is  the  true  wor- 
ship of  God.  what  is  true  prayer,  and  especially  distinguishes 
the  Church  from  the  heathen,  the  Pelagians,  that  is  from  all  who 
imagine  that  man  is  righteous  by  the  law,  or  by  discipline." 
(C.  R.  21,  739.) 

In  his  Theological  Propositions  Melanchthon  says:  "The 
word  faith  signifies  confidence  in  mercy,  and  rests  on  the  Son  of 
God,  whom  the  Father  hath  appointed.  This  faith  embraces 
all  the  articles  of  the  Creed,  and  refers  the  others  to  these  two : 
Credo  remissionem  peccatorum,  Credo  vitam  aeternam."  (C. 
R.  12  :  406.)  In  his  refutation  of  the  Osiandrian  error,  he  de- 
clares that  the  "contention  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  logomachy, 
but  it  is  a  controversy  touching  matters  of  great  moment,  viz., 
the  proper  honor  and  office  of  the  Mediator,  the  true  comfort 
of  the  pious,  the  difference  of  the  divine  persons,  the  difference 
between  the  law  and  the  Gospel,  and  the  meaning  of  the  prop- 
osition:    Fide  Justificamiir."   (C.  R.  8   :  504.) 

Quotations  of  identical  import  from  these  two  fathers  of  the 
Lutheran  Church  might  be  multiplied  almost  indefinitely,  but 
these  will  suffice  to  show  that  they  gave  Justification  the  place 
of  highest  rank  in  the  ordo  salutis,  and  in  every  formal  and 
systematic  statement  of  the  Christian  doctrine.  They  regarded 
.  it  as  Christianity  itself  (C.  R.  21  :  39.),  not  in  the  sense  that 
they  dispensed  with  every  other  doctrine,  but  in  the  sense  that 
they  regarded  it  as  embracing  all  other  doctrines.  It  formed, 
as  their  works  show,  the  central  point  around  which  all  their 
theological  thinking  revolved.  In  their  opposition  to  Pelagian- 
ism,  and  to  the  Semipelagianism  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  which  rejected  the  sola  fide,  they  sometimes  laid  heavy 


PROCEED! XGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  4-7 

-emphasis  on  the  Bondage,  of  the  Will,  and  on  Predestination 
as  its  correlate,  but  neither  of  these  subjects  received  a  hun- 
dredth part  of  the  attention  from  Luther  and  Melanchthon  that 
was  bestowed  by  them  on  Justification.  To  this  last  they  re- 
turned ever  and  again,  as  to  the  Alpha  and  Omega  of  human 
destiny.  In  the  case  of  Luther,  Predestination  was  regarded 
as  the  proper  preparation  for  Justification  (Loescher's  Refor- 
mations Acta,  I,  541)  ;  and  in  the  case  of  Melanchthon  it  early 
came  to  be  postponed  to  Justification  in  such  a  way  that  he 
declared  that  "those  undoubtedly  are  elected,  who  by  fa'th 
lay  hold  on  mercy,  and  persevere  in  that  confidence  unto  the 
end"  (C.  R.  21  :  332.) — thus  laying  the  foundation  for  the  fide 
praevisa  that  subsequently  occupied  so  large  a  place  in  the 
Lutheran  theology,  and  became  a  watchword  against  the  Prae- 
desiinatio  absoluta  of  the  Reformed.  Even  in  his  so-called  and 
much  misunderstood  Synergism,  Melanchthon  never  taught 
that  the  human  will  begins  the  work  of  salvation,  or  contributes 
anything  meritorious  to  Justification ;  and  he  was  the  first  to 
no'ie  expn^ssl}  that  faith  is  the  instrumental  cause  of  Justifica- 
tion. 

THE    CONFESSIONS. 

In  the  twentieth  article  of  the  Augustana  it  is  said:  "The 
doctrine  of  faith  which  is  the  chief  article  of  the  Christian 
Church."  In  Article  IV,  of  the  Apology,  it  is  written :  "Now, 
since  this  controversy  concerns  the  principal  article  of  the 
Christian  doctrine,  which,  correctly  understood,  illumines  and 
enlarges  the  honor  of  Christ,  and  brings  the  necessary  and 
richest  comfort  to  pious  consciences,  we  beseech  the  Emperor 
to  liear  us  clemently  in  regard  to  such  important  matters."  In 
the  Schmalkald  Articles  three  classes  of  articles  are  named  • 
Those  about  which  there  was  no  controversy,  inasmuch  as  both 
parties  confessed  them  ;  those  with  which  the  Lutheran  Reform- 
ers were  willirtg  to  treat  with  learned  and  sensible  men ;  and 
what  they  call  Der  Hauptartikel,  Principalis  Articnlus.  Here 
it  is  said:  "On  this  article  depends  everything  that  we  teach 
and  practice  against  the  Pope,  the  Devil,  and  the  whole  world. 
Therefore  in  regard  to  this  we  must  be  entirely  certain,  and 
not  doubt,  otherwise  all  is  lost,  and  the  Pope  and  the  Devil  and 


48  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE, 

everything-  has  the  victory  and  the  case  against  us."  So  im- 
portant was  the  article  in  the  estimation  of  its  numerous  sign- 
ers, and  so  certain  were  they  in  regard  to  the  Lutheran  teach- 
ing thereon,  that  they  would  not  suffer  it  to  be  brought  under 
discussion.  In  the  Form  of  Concord  it  is  taught:  "This 
articlfc  concerning  Justification  by  faith  is.  as  the  Apology  de- 
clares, the  leading  article  of  the  whole  Christian  doctrine; 
without  which  a  disturbed  conscience  can  have  no  more  conso- 
lation, or  rightly  conceive  the  riches  of  the  grace  of  Christ,  as 
Dr.  Lutl-.er  has  written :  'If  this  single  article  remain  pure,  the 
whole  Christian  community  will  also  remain  pure  and  harmon- 
ious, and  without  any  factions ;  but  if  it  remain  not  pure,  it  is 
impossible  to  resist  any  error  or. fanatical  spirit.'  And  with 
respect  to  this  article  in  particular,  Paul  says :  'A  little  leaven 
leaveneth  the  whole  lump.'  For  that  reason  he  enforces  in  this 
article,  with  much  earnestness  and  zeal,  the  particulae  cxclu- 
sivac — namely,  the  words,  'without  law.'  'without  works,'  'by 
grace"  (Rom.  3:28;  4:5;  Eph.  2:8,  9)  by  which  the  works  of 
man  are  excluded — for  the  purpose  of  showing  how  highly 
necessary  it  is  in  this  article,  not  only  to  unfold  the  true  doc- 
trine, but  also  to  set  forth  the  contrary  doctrines,  that  they  may 
be  discriminated,  exposed  and  rejected." 

From  this  quotation  it  is  evident  that  the  authors  of  the 
Form  of  Concord,  who  profess  to  adhere  to  the  true  and  Chris- 
tian sense  of  the  Augsburg  Confession,  regarded  the  article  of 
Justification  not  only  as  the  chief  article  of  the  Christian  faith, 
but  as  normative  for  the  right  apprehension  of  other  doctrines, 
and  as  judicial  for  the  detection  and  exclusion  of  the  contrary 
doctrines. 

THE  DOGMATICIANS. 

I.  Cliciiinilc,  the  greatest  of  the  Lutheran  Dogmaticlans, 
says:  "This  article  pre-emiently  distinguishes  the  Church  fiom 
all  otiier  societies,  and  superstitions,  as  Augustine  says :  'The 
Church  distinguishes  the  just  from  the  unjust,  not  by  the  l.nv 
of  works,  but  by  the  law  of  faith;'  yea.  this  article  is  as  it  were 
the  citadel,  the  chief  bulwark  of  the  entire  Christian  doctrine 
and  Religion.  If  this  be  obscured,  or  corrupted,  or  subverted, 
it  is  impossible  to  retain  purity  of  doctrine  in  the  other  articles. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  49 

But  if  this  article  be  preserved,  all  idolatries  and  superstitions 
will  perish  of  their  own  accord."     (Loci,  Pars.  Sec.  p.  216.) 

2.  Gerhard,  distinguished  alike  for  learning  and  piety,  says: 
"The  rank  of  this  article,  joined  with  its  utility  and  necessity, 
is  the  highest.  The  pious  and  pure  treatment  of  it  ascribes 
the  proper  honor  to  Christ,  brings  a  firm  consolation  to  alarmed 
consciences,  guards  the  distinction  between  law  and  gospel,  in- 
cites the  confidence  of  faith  necessary  in  the  true  and  profitable 
worship  of  God.  and  fires  the  minds  of  the  pious  to  the  serious 
performance  of  good  works."     (Loci,  VII,  p.  2.) 

3.  Qiienstedt,  known  as  the  bookkeeper  of  the  Wittenberg 
orthodoxy,  calls  Justification  "Divinissima  doctrina,  the  acropo- 
lis of  the  entire  Christian  religion,  and  the  bond  by  which  all 
the  parts  of  the  Christian  doctrine  are  held  together :  and  if 
this  be  broken,  all  the  other  articles  are  put  out  of  joint  and 
destroyed."  He  quotes  Meissner  as  saying:  "This  article  is, 
as  it  were,  the  center  of  theology,  to  which  all  things  are  direct- 
ed in  a  straight  line,  the  sacred  ocean  to  which  all  things  flow ; 
the  citadel  of  the  faith  which  keeps  all  things  safe  and  sound." 

At  the  Council  of  Trent  it  was  declared  that  all  the  errors 
of  Luther  arose  from  this  one  point. 

And  Sarpi,  the  historian  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  tells  us  that 
on  the  eighteenth  of  June,  1546,  "it  was  proposed,  that  having, 
by  divine  inspiration,  condemned  the  heresies  concerning  orig- 
inal sinne,  the  order  of  the  things  to  bee  handled  did  require, 
that  the  doctrine  of  the  modernes,  in  the  point  of  divine  grace 
which  is  the  medicine  of  sinne,  should  be  examined ;  and  that 
the  rather  it  was  fit  to  follow  the  order  because  it  was  ob- 
served by  the  Augustane  Confession;  all  which  the  Councell 
meaneth  to  condemne.  And  *the  Fathers  and  Divines  were  in- 
treated  to  have  recourse  by  prayer  unto  the  divine  assistance, 
and  to  bee  assiduous,  and  exact  in  their  studies,  because  all  the 
errours  of  Martin  were  resolved  into  that  point.  For  having 
undertaken  from  the  beginning  to  oppugne  the  Indulgences,  he 
saw  hee  could  not  obtaine  his  purpose,  except  hee  destroy 
the  works  of  repentance,  in  defect  whereof  Indulgences  doe 
succeede.  And  justification  by  faith  onely,  a  thing  never  heard 
of  before,  seemed  to  him  a  good    means  to    effect   this;    from 


50  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

whence  hee  hath  collected  not  only  that  good  workes  are  not 
necessary,  but  also  that  a  dissolute  libertie  in  observing  the  law 
of  God.  and  of  the  Church,  will  serve  the  turne:  hath  denied 
efficience  in  the  Sacraments,  authoritie  of  Priests,  Purgatorie. 
sacrifice  of  the  Masse,  and  all  other  remedies  for  remission  of 
sinnes.  Therefore  by  a  contrary  way,  hee  that  will  establish 
the  bodie  of  the  Catholike  doctrine,  must  overthrow  this  heresie 
of  justice  by  faith  only,  and  condemne  the  blasphemies  of  that 
enemie  of  good  works."  (Council  of  Trent  (English  Transla- 
tion), p.  1 90.) 

If  now  wc  inquire  a  little  more  analytically  into  the  relation 
of  the  doctrine  of  Justification,  as  taught  by  Lutherans,  to  the 
article  of  the  Trinity  wc  find : 

I.  That  Justification,  according  to  the  Lutheran  concep- 
tion, has  its  prime  source  in  God  the  Father,  that  is.  in  the 
love,  mercy  and  grace  of  the  Heavenly  Father,  for  those  three 
words  lie  at  the  root  of  the  will  to  save.  It  was  the  love  of  the 
Father  that  led  him  to  have  mercy  on  his  children,  and  it  was 
his  mercy  that  led  hini  to  make  gracious  provision  for  their 
redemption  h:  and  through  Christ.  In  holy  Writ,  which  is  to 
be  our  guide  in  this  study,  salvation  is  immediately  connected 
with  the  love  and  grace  of  God.  and  these  are  connected  with 
Christ.  God  so  loved  the  world  as  to  give  his  Son  for  its  sal- 
vation, John  3 :  16.  By  the  grace  of  God  Christ  was  to  taste 
death  for  every  man,  Heb.  2:9;  the  grace  of  God  is  given  by 
Jesus  Christ,  i  Cor.  i  •.14;  the  gospel  is  called  the  gospel  of  the 
grace  of  God,  Acts  20:  24.  It  is  the  grace  of  God  that  brings 
salvation,  Tit.  2 :  14.  God  hath  called  us  according  to  his 
own  purpose  and  grace  which  was  given  us  in  Christ  Jesus 
before  the  world  began.  2  Tim.  i :  19.  Election  is  by  grace, 
Rom.  1 1 :  5,  and  is  in  Christ.  Eph.  i  :  4.  Hence  grace  may  be 
defined  as  that  truly  paternal  favor  that  led  God  to  send  his  Son 
into  the  world  to  save  sinful  men ;  and  we  find  that  the  Luth- 
eran theology  connects  grace  in  causal  relation  directly  with 
Justification.  Luther  says :  "These  two  words,  grace  and  peace, 
comprehend  in  themselves  whatever  belongs  to  Christanity. 
Grace  releases  from  sin,  and  peace  makes  the  conscience  quiet." 
This  is  Justification  according  to  its  two  sides.     Again :     "By 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  51 

grace  alone,  all  other  means,  either  in  heaven  or  in  earth,  set 
apart,  we  have  remission  of  sins  and  peace  with  God  "  (Com. 
on  Cal.  Cap.  i,  3).  He  calls  grace  "the  chief  part  of  our  Chris- 
tian doctrine,  namely,  without  works,  purely  by  the  grace  of 
God  given  us  in  Christ,  must  we  be  saved.  There  is  no  other  way 
nor  method,  nor  work  that  can  help  us."  "One  has  grace  to  be 
an  apostle ;  another,  a  prophet ;  another,  an  evangelist,  or  an 
expounder  of  the  Scriptures.  But  we  all  have  the  fullness  of 
grace  in  our  Lord  God.  So  richly  are  the  grace  and  mercy  of 
God  bestowed,  that  it  is  without  measure,  is  eternal,  belongs  to 
all  his  in  its  height,  depth  and  breadth.  That  is  called  grace. 
There  are  other  gifts  of  various  kinds  for  ruling  the  Church. 
These  shall  cease.  But  the  grace  and  mercy  of  God  are  eter- 
nal, and  our  forgiveness  of  sin  is  not  to  last  for  one  or  two 
thousand  years,  but  it  is  an  eternal  redemption,  salvation,  joy, 
life,  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  has  no  limits.  Such  hath  he  be- 
stowed upon  us.  Hence  we  have  grace  and  the  Holy  Spirit 
without  measure,  not  on  account  of  our  merit,  but  because  we 
believe  in  him."     (Erl.  Ed.,  47,  pp.  172-3.) 

Melancthon  also  connects  Justification  immediately  with 
grace.  He  says :  "Grace  is  the  remission  of  sins,  or  mercy 
promised  on  account  of  Christ,  or  gratuitous  acceptance,  and  is 
necessarily  attended  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  He  identifies  Christ 
with  the  throne  of  Grace.  (C.  R.  21  :  752-3.)  In  his  Loci  he 
discusses  grace  and  Justification  together,  and  represents  Jus- 
tification as  depending  directl}'  and  alone  upon  the  mercy  and 
grace  of  God  on  account  of  Christ.  Indeed  he  knows  of  no 
justification  except  that  which  proceeds  from  the  grace  and 
mercy  of  God.  In  the  Confessions  it  is  said  time  and  again 
that  we  are  justified  out  of  grace,  freely,  without  works.  The 
particulae  exclusivae  point  to  the  grace  of  God.  And  every- 
where in  Lutheran  theology  the  conception  is  that  Justification 
has  its  original  source  in  the  grace  of  God,  and  that  the  grace 
of  God  is  both  manifested  and  magnified  in  sending  Christ  as 
Redeemer  and  Saviour. 

2.  Justification,  according  to  the  Lutheran  conception, 
brings  the  person  and  ivork  of  Christ  into  great  prominence. 
In  Article  IV  of  the  Confession,  Justification  is  declared  to  be 


52  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

"out  of  grace  for  Clirist's  sake":  Um  Chrisfiis  ivillcn.  proter 
Christum.  This  form  of  statement — "for  Christ's  sake:"  prop- 
ter Christum — has  great  significance.  It  associates  Christ  ex' 
z'i  terminorum  in  causal  relation  to  Justification.  It  is  used  in 
the  first  and  in  every  subsequent  edition  of  Melanchthon's  Loci, 
and  times  almost  without  number  in  the  other  writings  of  the^ 
great  Preceptor,  quite  to  the  exclusion  of  every  other  form  of 
statement  by  which  the  relation  of  Christ  to  Justification  is 
presented.  He  never  wearies  of  declaring  that  we  are  justified, 
receive  the  remission  of  sins,  are  reputed  righteous,  on  account 
of  Christ,  on  account  of  the  Mediator  the  Son  of  God ;  that 
we  have  forgiveness  of  sins  and  acceptance  before  God  on  ac- 
count of  the  obedience  and  intercession  of  Christ.  "Beloved 
fn  the  Beloved,  that  is,  on  account  of  the  Beloved  through 
whom  we  have  redemption  through  his  blood,  the  forgiveness 
of  sins."  "Righteousness  is  reckoned  to  us  on  account  of 
Christ  through  faith.  If  now  righteousness  is  reckoned  to  us 
on  account  of  Christ,  it  is  alone  the  obedience  of  Christ  by 
which  we  are  acceptable  to  God,  and  not  the  gifts  that  follow. 
Daniel  and  David  use  the  word  propter  in  order  to  exclude  our 
virtue  and  righteousness."     (C.  R.    VIII,  559.) 

In  Article  XX  of  the  Confession  it  is  said:  "On  account  of 
Christ  we  are  received  into  grace."  "On  account  of  Christ  we 
have  a  gracious  God!"  And  in  Article  XXVII  it  is  said: 
"Righteousness  cometh  by  faith  to  those  that  believe  that  they 
are  received  into  favor  by  God  for  Christ's  sake."  In  the 
Apology,  Article  IV :  "The  promise  of  remission  of  sins  and 
of  Justification  on  account  of  Christ  who  was  given  for  us  that 
he  might  make  satisfaction  for  the  sins  of  the  world,  and  be 
presented  as  Mediator  and  Redeemer."  In  the  Form  of  Con- 
cord :  "For  the  sake  of  the  merit  and  perfect  obedience,  the 
bitter  sufferings  and  death  and  the  resurrection  of  Christ." 
■'For  the  sake  of  this  perfect  obedience  which  he  rendered  to 
his  heavenly  Father  for  us  both  in  doing  and  in  sufifering,  in 
his  life  and  death,  God  forgives  our  sins,  accounts  us  righteous 
and  just,  and  saves  us  eternally."  And  now  that  we  may 
know  who  this  Christ  is,  we  turn  to  Article  III  of  the  Con- 
fession.    Here  we  learn  that  he  has  "two  natures,  the  divine 


PKOCEEUINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  58 

and  the  human,  inseparably  joined  together  in  unity  of  person; 
one  Christ,  true  God  and  true  man ;  who  was  born  of  the  Vir- 
gin Mary,  truly  suffered,  was  crucified,  dead  and  buried,  that 
he  might  reconcile  the  Father  unto  us,  and  might  be  a  sacrifice, 
not  only  for  original  guilt,  but  also  for  all  actaal  sins  of  men." 
In  the  Apology  it  is  said  that  Christ  died  to  reconcile  us  to  the 
Father.  The  reconciliation  is  twofold,  but  Christ  the  Godman 
is  the  reconciler.  He  is  our  peace,  and  hath  made  peace,  and 
hath  given  us  access  to  the  Father.     Eph.  2:  14-17. 

If  now  we  are  asked  at  the  bar  of  God  whether  we  have 
loved  God  and  have  fulfilled  the  law,  Christ  steps  in  and  says, 
"Yea,  Father,  I  have  done  it  that  they  might  be  reconciled,  be- 
cause they  have  believed  on  me,  and  are  in  me." 

Now,  it  is  exactly  on  this  account  that  God  can  be  just  and 
the  justifier  of  the  believer.  In  so  far  as  we  J)elieve  in  Christ, 
we  are  in  Christ,  and  have  put  on  Christ.  The  believer,  there- 
fore, is  not  looked  upon  as  he  is  in  himself,  but  as  he  is  in 
Christ.  God  judges  him  as  he  sees  him  united  with  his  Son 
Jesus  Christ.  Therefore  the  judgment  is  according  to  right- 
eousness, and  the  righteousness  bestowed  is  that  of  the  Son  of 
God,  who,  because  he  is  the  Son  of  God,  has  a  righteousness 
that  is  sufftcient  to  cover  the  transgressions  of  the  whole 
world.  Hence  we  can  appreciate  Luther's  language  when, 
treating  of  this  "principal  article  of  all  Christian  doctrine,"  he 
says :  "Here  you  see  how  necessary  a  thing  it  is  to  believe  and 
confess  the  article  of  the  divinity  of  Christ,  which  when  Arius 
denied  he  must  needs  also  deny  the  article  of  our  redemption. 
For  to  overcome  the  sin  of  the  world,  death,  the  curse  and  the 
wrath  of  God  in  himself,  is  not  the  work  of  any  creature,  but 
of  the  divine  power.  Therefore  he  who  in  himself  should 
overcome  these,  must  needs  be  truly  and  naturally  God.  For 
against  this  mighty  power  of  sin,  death,  and  the  curse,  which 
of  itself  reigneth  throughout  the  world,  and  in  the  whole  crea- 
ture, it  was  necessary,  to  set  a  more  high  and  mighty  power. 
But  besides  the  sovereign  and  divine  power,  no  such  power 
can  be  found.  Wherefore,  to  abolish  sin,  to  destroy  death,  to 
take  aw^ay  the  curse  in  himself;  and  again,  to  give  righteous- 
ness, to  bring  light,  and  to  give  the  blessing,  are  the  works  of 


54  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

the  divine  power  only  and  alone.  Now,  because  the  Scripture 
doth  attribute  all  these  to  Christ,  therefore  he  in  himself  is  life, 
righteousness,  and  blessing,  which  is,  naturally  and  substan- 
tially, God.  Therefore  they  that  deny  the  divinity  of  Christ, 
do  lose  all  Christianity,  and  become  altogther  Gentiles  and 
Turks.  Wc  must  learn  therefore  diligently  the  article  of  justi- 
fication, as  I  often  admonish  you.  For  all  other  articles  of  our 
faith  are  comprehended  in  it ;  and  if  that  remain  sound  then 
are  all  the  rest  sound.  Wherefore,  when  we  teach  that  men 
are  justified  by  Christ,  that  Christ  is  the  conqueror  of  sin  and 
death,  and  the  everlasting  curse,  we  witness  thereby  that  he 
is  naturallv  and  substantiallv  God."  (Com.  on  Gal.,'  Chap. 
Ill:  13.)   ' 

We  thus  see  the  relation  of  Article  IV  of  the  Confession  to 
Article  III.  The  latter  is  not  only  the  presupposition  of  the 
former,  but  the  ground  and  reason  for  its  existence  in  the 
Christian  system.  If  there  be  no  divine  human  Mediator,  who 
by  his  almight}-  power,  can  overcome  sin.  death  and  hell,  there 
CHU  be  no  justification  before  CjI,  for  this  justification  cannot 
take  place  according  to  the  divine  nature  alone,  as  Osiarider 
taught,  nor  according  to  the  human  nature  alone,  as  Stancar 
imagined.  Faith  looks  upon  the  person  o(  Christ,  as  the  same 
was  made  under  the  law  for  us.  bore  our  sins,  and  when  pro- 
ceeding to  the  Father,  rendered  entire  and  perfect  obedience 
to  his  heavenly  Father  for  us  poor  sinners,  from  his  holy  birth 
unto  his  death  ;  and  thereby  covered  all  our  disobedience,  which 
mheres  in  our  nature,  in  its  thoughts,  words,  and  deeds ;  so 
that  it  is  no  more  imputed  to  us  unto  condemnation,  but  is 
pardoned  and  remitted  through  pure  grace,  for  the  sake  of 
Christ  alone."     (Form  of  Concord,  Art.  III.) 

3.  Jiistlficalioii,  according  to  the  Luflicran  conception,  also 
recognises  the  presence  and  ivork  of  tJie  Holy  Ghost. 

Now  it  happens — just  how  it  has  so  happened  we  do  not 
know — that  no  Lutheran  creed  or  confession  contains  an  article 
De  Spiritn  Sancto.  The  Lutheran  Church  undoubtedly  laid 
more  stress  on  the  person  and  work  of  Christ,  that  is,  on  the 
acquisition  of  redemption,  than  on  the  person  and  work  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  that  is,  on  the  application  of  redemption.    Never- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  55 

theless  the  Lutheran  Confessions  and  Lutheran  theology  clear- 
ly and  distinctly  recognize  the  presence  and  the  work  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  in  justification  by  faith.  His  chief  office  is  to  work 
repentance  and  faith  in  those  who  hear  the  gospel.  This  he^ 
does  by  convicting  the  world  of  sin,  and  of  righteousness,  and 
of  judgment  to  come,  John  i6  :  8;  by  testifying  of  Christ, 
John  15  :  26 ;  by  taking  the  things  of  Christ  and  showing  them 
unto  men,  John  16  :  14;  by  teaching  all  things,  and  by  bring- 
ing unto  men  all  things  whatsoever  Christ  hath  spoken,  i  Cor. 
2  :  10.  On  the  day  of  Pentecost  the  Holy  Ghost  came  down 
from  heaven  in  visible  appearance.  But  now  that  the  Church 
is  established,  "the  Holy  Ghost  is  sent  by  his  word  unto  the 
hearts  of  believers,  as  is  said:  'God  sent  the  Spirit  of  his 
Son.'  This  sending  is  without  any  visible  appearance;  to  wit, 
when  by  the  hearing  of  the  external  word,  we  receive  an  inward 
fervency  and  light,  whereby  we  are  changed  and  become  new 
creatures;  whereby  also  we  receive  a  new  judgment,  a  new 
feeling,  and  a  new  moving.  This  change  and  this  new  judg- 
ment is  not  a  vv^ork  of  reason,  or  the  power  of  a  man,  but  is 
the  gift  and  operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  cometh  with 
the  word  preached  which  purifieth  our  hearts  by  faith,  and 
bringeth  forth  in  us  spiritual  motions."  (Com.  on  Gal.  Chap. 
IV.  5.  6.)  In  Article  V  of  the  Confession  it  is  said  that  God 
gives  the  Holy  Ghost  who  works  faith,  where  and  when  he  will, 
in  those  who  hear  the  Gospel.  In  the  Catechism  it  is  said:  "I 
believe  that  I  cannot  by  my  own  reason  or  strength  believe  in 
Jesus  Christ  my  Lord,  or  come  to  him.  But  the  Holy  Ghost 
has  called  me  through  the  Gospel,  enlightened  me  by  his  gifts, 
sanctified  and  preserved  me  in  the  true  faith."  The  Holy 
Ghost  calls,  illumines,  converts,  and,  by  working  on  the  inner 
life  of  man,  creates  faith  in  the  promised  redemption.  At  the 
same  time  also  he  regenerates  the  believer,  so  that  he  is  a  new 
creature  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  becomes  a  son  of  God.  As  Mel- 
anchthon  says :  "When  God  pardons  sins  he  at  the  same  time 
gives  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  begins  new  virtues,  though  the 
alarmed  conscience  first  seeks  the  pardon  of  sins  and  reconcil- 
iation. It  is  anxious  about  this  and  in  regard  to  this  contends 
in  true  fear,  and  does  not  dispute  about  the  new  virtues  that  are 


56  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

infused,  though  these  follow  reconciliation,  yet  it  must  not  be 
supposed  that  our  dignity  or  purity  are  causes  of  the  pardon  of 
sins."     (C.  R.  21  :  742.) 

Hence  nothing  can  be  clearer  than  that  the  Lutheran  faith 
recognizes  the  presence  of  the'  Holy  Ghost  as  active  in  Jusi- 
fication.  By  the  power  of  the  truth  he  creates  the  faith  that 
receives  the  heavenly  gift  of  grace;  and  at  the  same  time  he 
works  that  experience  of  salvation,  and  that  regeneration  of  the 
human  spirit,  that  always  attend  the  objective  declaration  of 
forgiveness,  though  no  experience  of  salvation  and  no  internal 
change  of  heart  is  the  cause  of  the  divine  declaration  of  par- 
don. Hence  looked  at  from  the  subjective  side  the  Apology 
is  perfectly  correct  when  it  says:  "The  sinner's  justification 
means  that  he  is  changed  into  a  pious  being,  and  is  born  anew 
of  the  Holy  Ghost."     (Art.  IV.) 

n. 

THE  RELATION  ,0F  JUSTIFICATION  TO  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

The  moment  we  use  the  word  Justification,  the  question 
arises,  Justil\.ion  from  wnat?  The  answer  given  in  the 
Lutheran  system  brings  us  face  to  face  with  the  doctrine  of 
sin,  and  the  doctrine  of  sin  leads  to  the  inquiry  for  a  state  of 
sinlessness,  or  of  intergrity.  Further  back  than  this  we  cannot 
go  in  tracing  man's  ethical  history. 

I.    The  State  of  Integrity. 

When  we  hear  of  a  condition  of  sin  from  which  man  is  de- 
livered by  Justification,  the  question  easily  arises.  Was  man 
created  in  a  condition  of  sin  ?  To  affirm  that  he  was  so  created 
is  at  once  to  impeach  the  power  and  moral  integrity  of  the 
Creator,  and  no  speculation  that  has  affirmed  the  creation  of 
man  in  sin,  has  at  any  time  been  sanctioned  by  the  Church. 
We  are  led  then  to  inquire  for  the  original  condition  of  man, 
from  which  he  departed  by  sin,  from  which  sin  he  must  be 
justified  in  order  to  enjoy  fellowship  with  his  Creator,  who,  be- 
cause of  the  creational  relation,  must  be  also  man's  Lord  and 
moral  Governor. 

The  answer  which  Lutheranism  gives  to  this  inquiry  must 
be  in  harmony  with  her  central  principle. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  57 

Now  as  Justification  is  a  restoration  to  judicial  righteous- 
ness, and  thereby  to  a  state  of  moral  intergrity,  we  must  con- 
clude that  man's  orignal  condition  was  one  of  righteousness 
and  integrity;  that  is,  man,  at  the  time  of  his  creation,  must 
have  stood  before  his  Creator  free  from  guilt  and  free  from 
moral  imperfection.  This  would  seem  to  be  the  legitimate  con- 
clusion from  the  facts  involved  in  Justification. 

With  this  conclusion  corresponds  the  declaration  of  the 
Scripture  that  man  was  created  in  the  image,  after  the  likeness 
of  God,  and  was  '"good,"  which  predicates  must  be  interpreted 
to  mean  at  the  very  least,  that  he  was  adapted  to  serve  the 
purpose  had  in  view  in  his  creation;  and  in  that  purpose  must 
have  been  included  the  duty  truly  to  fear,  love  and  obey  God. 
This  conception  of  the  status  integritatis  is  expressed  in  the 
Apology  as  follows:  "This  the  Holy  Scriptures  also  testify 
when  they  say  that  man  was  created  after  God's  own  image 
and  likeness.  For  what  else  is  this,  but  that  the  divine  wisdom 
and  righteousness,  which  are  of  God,  were  formed  in  man 
through  which  we  know  God,  through  which  the  brightness 
of  God  was  reflected  in  us ;  that  is,  that  these  gifts,  namely,  a 
true,  clear  knowledge  of  God,  true  fear  of  and  confidence  in 
him,  etc.,  were  given  to  man  when  he  was  first  created."  (Ar- 
ticle II.) 

What  Justification  proposes  is,  the  restoration  of  man  to  a 
state  of  righteousness,  or  of  right  relation  to  God,  in  order  that 
he  may  truly  know,  love  and  serve  God.  More  than  this  it 
cannot  do,  for  more  than  this  is  not  possible  in  the  ethico-re- 
ligious  sphere.  Less  than  this  it  dare  not  attempt,  for  a  per- 
fectly holy  God  could  not  be  satisfied  with  less.  He  could  not 
admit  into  his  presence  a  creature  who  was  not  righteous  in  his 
sight,  and  who  had  not  been  created  after  God  in  righteous- 
ness and  in  the  holiness  of  truth.  Eph.  4  :  24;  Col.  3  :  14. 
Therefore  Justification,  or  the  righteousness  of  faith,  must  be 
a  substitute  for  original  righteousness,  or  for  the  state  of  in- 
tegrity. Hence  the  doctrine  of  the  status  integritatis  must  be 
shaped  so  as  to  harmonize  with  the  central  principle  of  the  sys- 
tem ;  which,  as  it  embraces  the  whole  sum  of  Christianity,  must 
determine  the  view  to  be  taken  of  man  in  his  original  condi- 


58  PR;CEEDIXGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

tion,  who  now,  because  of  sin,  has  become  the  subject  of  an 
objective  Justification  and  of  personal  purification,  that  he  may- 
be restored  to  "righteousness  and  to  the  hohness  of  truth." 
Very  properly,  therefore,  is  it  said  that  "original  righteousness 
was  the  acceptableness  of  human  nature  before  God,  and  in  the 
very  nature  of  men  a  light  in  the  mind  by  which  it  was  able 
firmly  to  assent  to  the  Word  of  God,  and  a  turning  of  the  will 
to  God.  and  obedience  of  heart  in  agreement  with  the  decision 
of  the  law  of  God  that  is  implicated  in  the  mind."  (C.  R.  21  : 
669.) 

The  person  who  is  justified,  who  is  united  with  Christ,  who 
has  put  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  renewed  in  the  spirit 
of  his  mind,  and  is  renewed  in  knowledge  after  the  image  of 
Him  that  created  him,  and  is  so  transformed  by  the  renewing 
of  the  mind  as  to  be  able  to  prove  what  is  that  good  and  ac- 
ceptable and  perfect  will  of  God — all  of  w^hich  is  involved  es- 
sentially in  the  doctrine  of  Justification — that  person  is  in  a 
moral  condition  which  dififers  in  no  essential  respect  from  the 
status  integritatis. 

2.    The  State  of  Corruption. 

None  the  less  true  is  it  that  the  doctrine  of  Justification  en- 
ables us  to  establish  a  correct  doctrine  of  sin — of  sin,  whether 
viewed  as  the  loss  of  original  righteousness,  or  as  the  corrup- 
tion of  man's  ethical  nature.  If  Justification  be  the  restoration 
of  original  righteousness  both  in  the  judicial  and  in  the  ethical 
sense,  then  sin  must  be  the  loss  of  original  righteousness  both 
in  the  judicial  and  in  the  ethical  sense,  for  God  who  justifies 
would  not  confer  on  man  what  he  already  possesses.  There- 
fore original  righteousness  and  original  sin  must  be  the  ethico- 
religious  antitheses  of  each  other.  The  loss  of  the  former 
brings  on  the  latter.  Hence  it  is  perfectly  correct  ^  define 
original  sin  as  the  loss  of  original  righteousness,  and  sin  in 
general  may  be  defined  as  the  loss  or  destitution  of  the  right- 
eousness that  ought  to  be ;  and  from  this  it  results  that  the  more 
a  man  sins,  the  farther  he  gets  away  from  the  integrity  of  na- 
ture in  which  he  was  created.  But  inasmuch  as  the  concreat- 
ed  righteousness  is  not  an  idle  quality,  but  an  inborn  power  to 
know,  to  love,  and  to  serve  God,  so  the  loss  of  original  right- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  59 

eousness  is  the  loss  of  the  power  to  know,  to  love,  and  to 
serve  God.  This  doubtless  is  the  very  essence  of  sin,  for  this  it 
is  that  causes  man  to  miss  the  mark,  and  to  come  short  of  the 
end  for  which  he  was  designed  ;  or  in  other  words,  to  defeat  the 
final  cause  of  his  creation.  Also  as  Justification  involves  re- 
generation and  moral  cleansing  we  are  bound  to  conclude  that 
sin  brings,  or  is,  a  corruption  and  perversion  of  the  moral 
power  of  the  soul,  so  that  the  sinner  exercises  himself  unto  un- 
godliness and  commits  unlawful  deeds.  This  quality  of  sin  is 
expressed  in  Article  II  by  the  clauses:  "Full  of  evil  desires 
and  propensities,  and  can  have  by  nature  no  true  fear  of  God, 
no  true  faith  in  God." 

We  may  now  give  a  classic  definition  of  sin  that  will  be  in 
every  respect  in  harmony  with  the  doctrine  of  Justification  by 
Faith:  "Sin  is  a  defect;  inclination,  or  action,  conflicting  with 
the  law  of  God,  offensive  to  God,  condemned  by  him,  and  caus- 
ing those  in  whom  it  is  found,  unless  forgiven,  to  become  sub- 
jects of  eternal  wrath  and  punishment"   (Melanchthon). 

III. 

THE  RELATION  OF  JUSTIFICATION  TO  THE  MEANS  OF  GRACE. 

In  Article  V  of  the  Confession  it  is  said :  "For  obtaining 
this  grace  of  God  has  instituted  the  office  of  preaching,  and  has 
given  the  Gospel  and  the  sacraments,  by  which  as  by  means, 
he  gives  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  works  faith  where  and  when  he 
will,  in  those  who  hear  the  Gospel,  which  teaches  that  by  the 
merit  of  Christ,  not  by  our  own  merit,  we  have  a  gracious  God, 
if  we  believe  it."  Or  according  to  the  Latin  text:  "That  God 
not  for  the  sake  of  our  own  merits,  but  for  the  sake  of  Christ 
justifies  those  who  believe  that  for  Christ's  sake  they  are  re- 
ceived into  favor." 

The  clear  implication,  if  not  express  declaration,  is  that  in 
and  of  ourselves  we  do  not  have  the  faith  that  justifies.  Such 
faith  is  wrought  in  us  by  the  third  person  of  the-  Trinity,  but 
wrought  through  means  that  appeal  to  our  rational  and  spirit- 
ual apprehension,  viz.,  through  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel 
and  the  administration  of  the  sacraments. 


60  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

As  these  means  are  not  identical  in  character,  it  is  proper  to 
consider  each  apart  from  the  other. 

I.     The  Word  of  God  as  means  for  working  faith. 

The  Word  of  God  has  always  been  regarded  by  Lutherans 
as  the  primary,  the  chief,  the  absolutely  indispensable  means 
of  grace.  The  Word  is  not  only  the  source  of  our  knowledge 
of  God  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  of  the  promises  of  salvation,  and 
of  the  way  of  salvation ;  but  it  is  the  special  instrument  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  for  working  contrition  and  faith.  As  divinely  re- 
vealed truth  in  the  form  of  law,  it  exposes  and  convicts  of  sin, 
creates  a  sense  of  responsibility,  and  acquaints  us  with  the  fact 
of  our  moral  impotence.  In  this  preliminary  way  the  law  can 
be  regarded  as  a  means  of  grace.  But  it  cannot  by  itself  work 
faith.    It  finally  works  wrath  and  drives  men  to  despair. 

But  as  divinely  revealed  truth  in  the  form  of  Gospel,  as  the 
revelation  of  God's  love,  and  as  the  promise  of  pardon,  the 
Word  of  God  is  especially  the  primary,  the  chief,  the  absolute- 
ly indispensable  means  of  grace  (Rom.  lo:  8)  ;  or  it  may 
be  regarded  as  the  chief  instrument  used  by  the  Holy  Ghost  in 
leading  men  to  appropriate  the  grace  of  God  contained  in  the 
promises  of  the  Gospel.  As  divinely  revealed,  and  there- 
fore authoritative  truth,  the  Word  is  fitted  to  command  the  at- 
tention and  respect  of  men.  That  it  fails  to  do  this  in  so  man_y 
instances  is  not  the  fault  of  the  Word  itself.  The  reason  must 
be  sought  in  the  darkened  understanding  and  perverted  moral 
sensibility. 

As  the  Word  of  truth,  this  Word  of  God  is  taken  by  the 
Spirit  of  truth,  who  comprehends  the  deep  things  of  God.  and 
testifies  to  the  spirit  of  man,  as  his  instrument  for  illumining 
the  mind  of  man,  for  working  in  the  recesses  of  man's  heart, 
and  for  guiding  him  in  the  way  of  all  truth.  And  it  is  in  the 
form  of  the  preached  Word  reflected  through  sanctified  per- 
sonality, and  witnessed  to  by  the  experience  of  salvation,  that 
it  exerts  its  greatest  power.  Hence  it  can  and  must  be  said 
that  "The  chief  means  of  grace  in  the  Church  is  the  Word  of 
preacliing,  wliich  through  its  testimony  in  regard  to  sin  (Law) 
and  in  regard  to  grace  (Gospel)  is  fitted  to  work  the  penitent 
obedience  of  faith,  and  to  serve  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  that  end  in 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 


r.i 


proportion  as  it  is  a  true  expression  of  the  salvation  in  Christ, 
that  is,  as  it  is  scriptural."  (Luthardt,  Dogmatik,  loth  ed.,  p. 
341.)  Christ  himself  was  a  preacher,  and  he  commanded  his 
apostles  to  go  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel.  On 
the  day  of  Pentecost  they  founded  the  Church  through  preach- 
ing, and  they  regarded  preaching  as  more  important  than  bap- 
tizing (i  Cor.  i:  17).  Preaching  was  also  the  chief  instru- 
mentality by  which  the  Church  was  kept  from  utter  stagnation 
and  spiritual  deadness  in  the  Middle  Ages,  and  it  was  the 
mighty  force  that  promoted  the  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth 
century. 

Litther  declared  that  "the  Word  is  an  almighty  power,  so 
powerful  a  thing  it  can  do  everything,  achieve  everything,  bring 
Christ  and  the  forgiveness  of  sins — we  speak  of  the  external 
Word  preached  orally  by  you  and  me."  And  it  was  especially 
this  oral  or  preached  Word,  in  distinction  from  th-;  written 
Word,  that  Luther  regarded  as  tlio  V/ord  of  God.  He  says : 
"Faith  comes  out  of  preacn'.ng,  and  preaching  from  the  \\"ord 
of  God."  "God  will  givi  his  .Si""r't  to  no  one  without  the  Word 
and  the  office  of  preaching,  v/h'cn  he  appointed  solely  to  preach 
Christ."  "Hence  upon  whom  the  office  of  preaching  is  bestow- 
ed, upon  him  is  conferred  the  highest  office  in  the  Church.  He 
may  also  baptize,  administer  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  discharge 
all  pastoral  duties,  or  if  he  do  not  thus  wish  he  may  abide  in 
preaching  alone,  and  leave  to  others  baptism  and  other  subor- 
dinate duties,  as  Christ  did,  and  Paul,  and  all  the  apostles." 
He  declared  that  "God  has  nothing  to  do  with  us,  except 
through  some  means,  and  that  is  his  Word."  And  from  noth- 
ing did  he  pray  more  earnestly  than  to  be  delivered  from 
dreams,  visions,  and  angels.  When  he  was  attacked  by  the 
fanatics,  who  boasted  of  visions,  dreams  and  revelations,  and 
sought  to  instruct  him,  he  replied:  "I  have  not  desired  such 
revelations,  and  should  they  come  before  me,  I  would  not  be- 
lieve them.  I  have  earnestly  prayed  God  to  give  me  a  true  and 
clear  knowledge  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  I  have  the  Word. 
Therefore  I  know  that  I  am  in  the  right  way,  and  that  I  cannot 
easily  be  deceived  or  fall  into  error."    (Walch:  2:  1919.) 

.We  thus  see  how  our  central  Principle  fixes  our  attention 


62  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

upon,  and  binds  our  thought  to  the  Word  of  God  as  the  instru- 
ment by  which  justifying  faith  is  wrought  in  the  heart,  and  as 
a  means  by  which  we  are  safeguarded  against  the  vagaries  and 
deceptions  of  men.  He  who  would  know  the  will  of  God  in 
regard  to  his  salvation  must  consult  the  Word  of  God ;  and  he 
who  would  understand  that  word  in  its  fullest  import,  and  in 
its  adaptation  to  his  spiritual  needs,  must  hear  the  voice  and  tes- 
timony of  the  believing  ministry.  It  is  to  this  end  that  God 
has  instituted  the  office  of  public  preaching  and  teaching  in 
the  Church  ;  or  as  the  Form  of  Concord  states  the  matter :  "For 
this  reason  God,  through  his  infinite  goodness  and  mercy, 
causes  his  divine  and  eternal  law,  and  his  marvelous  counsel 
concerning  our  redemption,  namely,  the  holy  and  saving  Gos- 
pel concerning  his  eternal  Son,  our  only  Saviour  and  Redeemer, 
Jesus  Christ,  to  be  publicly  preached.  Through  this  preaching 
he  gathers  for  himself  an  eternal  Church  from  among  the  hu- 
man race,  and  works  in  the  hearts  of  men  true  repentance,  the 
knowledge  of  sin,  and  genuine  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son 
of  God."  Again:  "Through  this  instrument,  namely,  preach- 
ing and  the  hearing  of  the  Word,  God  worTca  m  us.  softens  our 
hearts,  draws  man,  so  that  through  the  preaching  of  the  law 
he  perceives  his  sins,  and  the  wrath  of  God,  and  feels  true  fear, 
contrition  and  sorrow  of  heart.  And  through  preaching  and 
meditation  on  the  Holy  Gospel  which  promises  the  most 
gracious  remission  of  sins  in  Christ,  a  spark  of  faith  is  kindled 
in  him,  he  accepts  the  forgiveness  of  sins  for  Christ's  sake, 
and  consoles  himself  with  the  promise  of  the  Gospel ;  and  thus 
the  Holy  Ghost,  who  works  all  these  things,  is  sent  forth  into 
the  heart." (New  Market  Translation,  pp.  620-1  >.  (Gal.  4  : 
6). 

h  is  thus  true,  as  TliomaMus  says:  "Justifying  faith  has  its 
niost  immediate  oburi:  m  the  Word  of  the  Gospel,  for  it  is 
os]'«'^ciallv  fauii  in  the  pro.nise  of  gracj,  '11  !hi.-  tvitimuny  of 
God's  grace  in  the  preaching  of  Christ.  But  this  object  is 
likewise  its  Principle;  for  through  it  justifying  faith  arises  in 
tjie  heart.  The  Vv'ord  has  called  and  enlightened  the  justified 
person.  On  the  one  hand  it  awoke  in  him  the  knowledge  of 
sin.     and     a     sense     of     the     need     of     salvation:     and     on 


PROCEEDIXGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  63 

the  other  a  longing  for  salvation  and  trust  in  the  Sav- 
iour. If  external  events  and  circumstances  have  contributed 
to  these  ends,  yet  always  was  it  the  Word  preached  and' heard 
that  moved  him  to  appropriate  redemption."  (The  Luth.  Con- 
fession in  the  Consequence  of  its  Principle,  p.  25.) 

In  corroboration  of  this  explanation  of  the  genesis  of  faith 
we  appeal  to  the  experience  of  the  Christian  who  is  distinctly 
conscious  of  the  influence  of  the  Word  alone  as  the  ruling  fac- 
tor in  his  conversion,  according  to  Rom.  10  :  17:  "Faith  Com- 
eth of  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  Word  of  Christ."  This 
"Word  of  Christ"  works  on  the  deepest  principles  of  life,  the 
spiritual  intuitions,  as  over  against  the  natural  (psychical)  sus- 
ceptibilities, which  are  of  the  earth,  earthly.  As  Law,  this 
divine  Word  works  contrition,  which  according  to  the  Lutheran 
teaching  is,  if  not  a  part  of  faith,  at  least  one  of  its  necessary 
presuppositions.  (Mueller's  Die  Symb.  Buecher,  Stuttgart, 
i860,  p.  615.)  As  Gospel,  this  divine  Word  works  the  fides 
specialis,  by  which  each  one  believes  that  his  own  sins  are  par- 
doned for  Christ's  sake.  Here  now  we  have  evangelical,  that 
is,  justifying  faith,  or  justification  by  faith.  This  is  our  cen- 
tral Principle,  but  the  principle  of  this  Principle  is  the  Word 
preached  and  read. 

2.     The  sacrajiie)its  as  means  of  graee. 

It  is  not  in  the  words  of  our  thesis  (Art.  V),  neither  is  it 
taught  anywhere  in  the  Divine  Word,  that  faith  is  wrought  in 
its  primary  instance  through  a  sacrament.  It  is  not  a  doctrine 
of  the  Confessions,  neither  is  it  a  teaching  of  the  Scripture:*, 
that  infants  receive  faith  through  baptism,  though  "through 
baptism  they  are  presented  to  God  and  become  acceptable  to 
Him."  In  the  thirteenth  article,  which  treats  of  the  use  of  the 
sacraments,  it  is  said  that  "the  sacraments  are  signs  and  testi- 
monies of  the  will  of  God  towards  us,  instituted  for  the  pur- 
pose of  exciting  and  strengthening  faith  in  those  who  use 
them."  It  is  not  said  that  they  were  instituted  for  the  purpose 
of  working  faith  in  its  primary  instance.  But  it  is  said  that 
the  sacraments  "require"  faith  and  are  properly  used  when  they 
are  received  by  faith,  and  strengthen  faith.  "In  the  case  of 
adults  it  is  the  contimiation.  increase  and  sealins:  of  faith  that  is 


64  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

wrought  throuo-h  the  sacraments,  just  as  a  person  is  said  to  ac- 
quire a  thing  when' he  daily  obtains  and  acquires  the  continua- 
tion, special  increase  and  sealing  of  that  thing."  (Carpzov, 
Isagoge,  p.  249.) 

That  the  Holy  Ghost  is  imparted  through  the  Christian 
sacraments,  and  that  he  operates  graciously  through  the  sacra- 
ments, results  from  the  fact  that  a  sacrament  is  a  visible  word, 
a  picture  that  signifies  the  same  thing  that  is  preached  by  the 
Word.  Luther  called  the  sacraments  efficacia  graciae  signa, 
and  symbols  that  awake  faith,  signs  and  promises  of  the  for- 
giveness of  sins.  In  the  Apology,  sacraments  are  described  as 
"external  signs,  which  God  has  enjoined,  and  with  which  are 
connected  the  promise  .of  grace."  But  a  sacrament  is  not  a 
mere  sign.  It  is  a  rite,  a  ceremony,  that  embodies  a  fact,  and 
a  principle,  inasmuch  as  its  constituting,  informing  power  is 
the  divine  word.  Verhum  accedit  ad  elemcntum,  et  fit  sacra- 
mentiim.  The  word  added,  however,  is  not  primarily,  natch  less 
exclusively,  the  word  of  institution.  Augustine's  oft-quoted 
and  much  abused  dictum  is  based  on  John  15  :  3;  (Migne,  Pk- 
trologia,  XXX\\  p.  1840.)  and  has  reference  to  the  Gospel 
in  its  broadest  sense  as  the  preaching  of  the  Christian  faith, 
which  the  receiver  of  the  sacrament  must  believe.  The  great 
church  Father  does  not  in  any  sense  speak  here  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  though  doubtless  the  principle  of  the  word  added  holds 
in  regard  to  this  sacrament  as  it  does  in  regard  to  baptism. 
As  a  visible  word,  a  sign,  a  seal,  a  symbolized  truth,  the  sacra- 
ment is  well  fitted  to  work  on  the  imagination  of  the  intelligent 
receiver,  and  to  enlist  that  powerful  faculty  in  the  interest  of 
the  gospel;  and  as  by  the  Very  words  of  institution  the  truth 
is  directed  to  the  individual,  the  sacrament  is  specially  adapted 
to  impress  the  individual  with  the  fact  that  the  Lord  compre- 
hends him  in  the  number  of  the  elect  ones;  though 'it  is  by  no 
means  to  be  conceded  that  the  Word  preached  is  addressed 
only  to  all  promiscuously,  and  to  no  one  in  particular.  On  the 
contrary,  the  Word  directs  its  message  also  to  each  individual. 
"He  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear."  "Whosoever  will  let 
him  come." 

Moreover,  it  is  only  through  the  Word  read  and  spoken,  that 


PROCEEmNGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  65- 

the  sacraments  become  intelligible,  and  can  act  as  instruments 
for  imparting  the  Holy  Ghost.  For  until  the  Word,  in  the 
broad  sense  of  the  divine  message  of  salvation,  and  of  the 
revelation  of  grace  on  account  of  Jesus  Christ,  has  been  pro- 
claimed and  inculcated,  and  even  spiritually  apprehended,  the 
sacraments  remain  dark  enigmas.  This  is  implied  in  the  order 
of  the  Catechism :  First  the  Law,  then  the  Gospel,  then  the 
Christian  Experience,  and  then  the  Sacraments — first  the  sac- 
rament of  initiation,  and  then  the  sacrament  of  confirmation. 
But  "without  the  operation  of  the  Word  in  creating  faith,  the 
relation  in  which  baptism  places  a  person  remains  purely  an 
objective  one,  and  the  gift,  which  it  puts  into  the  heart,  remains 
a  treasure  hid  in  a  field.  Without  the  appropriating  personal 
faith,  despite  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper,  there  results  no 
personal  justification,  and  the  sacramental  mediation  of  grace 
is  gradually  withdrawn  without  being  able  to  unfold  its  bless- 
ings, or  it  finally  becomes  a  judgment  upon  the  recipient. 
Hence  the  Word  holds  the  chief  place  in  the  economy  of  sal- 
vation. If  anyone  be  deprived  of  the  sacrament  not  by  his 
own  fault,  he  can  be  in  some  way  saved  by  grace  through  faith 
alone."     (Thomasius,  Person  und  Werk,  H,  358.) 

The  priority  and  superiority  thus  accorded  to  the  Divine 
Word  as  means  of  grace,  as  compared  with  the  -ac-arifnts,  is 
fully  justified  by  the  Divine  Word  itself,  which  is  represented 
not  merely  as  a  guide  to  salvation,  but  as  a  creative  power  of 
God  for  salvation  to  all  who  believe  it  (Rom.  i  :  16)  as  spirit 
and  life  (John  6  :  63),  as  an  incorruptible  seed,  through  which 
men  are  born  again  (Peter  i  :  23)  ;  as  the  bread  by  which  man 
Jives  (Matt.  4  :  4)  ;  as  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  by  which  the 
v,'orId  is  to  be  overcome  (Eph.  6  :  17;  Heb.  4  :  12 ;  Rev.  19  : 
15).  Behind  this  Word  stands  God  himself,  and  through  it 
he  speaks  to  us,  and  treats  with  us.  It  must  result  therefore 
that  wherever  the  Word  of  God  is  preached,  it  becomes  a  sav- 
our from  death  unto  death,  or  a  savour  from  Hfe  unto  life  (2 
Cor.  2  :  4-16).     It  is  the  great  deciding  means  of  grace. 

No  such  creating.  life-giving,  conquering  power  is  ascribed 
to  the  sacraments.     In  the  entire  twenty-one  epistles,  which 
^are  intended  to  expound  the  Gospel  to  the  churches  or  to  in- 
dividuals, scarcely  a  dozen  references  are  made  to  baptism ;  and 


66  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

Paul  declares  that  Christ  did  not  send  him  to  baptize,  but  to 
preach  the  Gospel  (i  Cor.  i  :  17)  ;  and  in  all  these  same  epis- 
tles only  a  few  verses  of  one  are  devoted  to  an  exposition  of 
the  Lord's  Supper  (i  Cor.  10  :  16-18;  11  :  23-26).  It  is  evi- 
dent therefore  that  the  Church  has  given  a  prominence  to  the 
sacraments  as  means  of  grace  not  warranted  by  the  New  Tes- 
tament ;  and  it  is  a  demonstrated  fact  of  history  that  this  ex- 
cess of  prominence  given  to  sacraments  has  wrought  against 
"the  eternal  principle  of  Christianity."  Too  much  and  too  of- 
ten has  the  Church  exalted  the  virtue  and  efficacy  of  sacraments 
at  the  expense  of  repentance  and  faith ;  nor  is  the  Lutheran 
Church  entirely  free  from  this  condemnation.  Nevertheless, 
as  instituted  and  ordered  by  the  Lord,  the  sacraments  dare  not 
be  overlooked,  since  they  are  the  ordinary,  but  by  no  means  the 
absolutely  necessary,  way  to  salvation ;  nor  is  grace  necessar- 
ily bound  objectively  to  the  administration  of  the  sacraments. 
Credc  ct  mauducasti  is  a  commonplace  in  Lutheran  teaching, 
And  it  was  the  distinct  and  unvarying  teaching  of  the  Lutheran 
Reformers,  and  it  is  likewise  the  teaching  of  the  Lutheran  Con- 
fessions, that  sacraments  are  subordinate  to  the  JVord — to  "the 
Word  of  God  preached  and  heard,"  as  Rohnert  says ;  and  the 
old  Lutheran  teaching  laid  heavy  emphasis  on  repentance  and 
faith.  The  Word  works  repentance  and  faith.  The  sacra- 
ments require  repentance  and  faith  as  the  conditions  of  their 
saving  efficacy. 

l\. 

THE  RELATION  OF  JUSTIFICATION  TO  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE. 

I.  It  must  never  be  forgotten  that  Justification  has  a  sub- 
jective as  well  as  an  objective  side.  The  believer  is  not  only 
declared  Justus,  but  is  Justus,  and  is  rightly  called  holy,  not  in- 
deed because  he  is  freed  from  all  taint  of  sin,  but  because  a 
life  of  holiness  has  been  begun  in  him.  He  is  generically  a 
saint.  He  must  be  classed  with  those  who  have  washed  their 
robes,  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  (Rev. 
7  :  14).  "As  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  the 
right  to  become  children  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on 
his  name,  which  were  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the 
flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God"  (John  i  :  12-13). 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  0  7 

This  divine  birth  is  the  inseparable  attendant  of  Justification, 
which  is  not  only  the  forgiveness  of  sins  and  adoption  into 
sonship,  but  is  a  principiant  forgiveness  that  acts  on  man's 
ethical  nature,  and  makes  him  righteous,  because  it  brings  the 
renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  the  living  Christ  into  the 
heart.  Hence  the  order  of  salvation  is,  first,  Justification,  and, 
then,  Regeneration.  In  one  place  in  the  Apology  Melanchthon, 
seemingly  at  least,  identifies  the  two.  But  the  Form  of  Con- 
cord sets  them  in  proper  relation,  and  clearly  distinguishes  the 
one  from  the  other.  The  reverse  order  could  not  be  reconciled 
with  the  unquestioned  Lutheran  principle  that  we  are  justified 
by  faith  alone,  without  merits,  works  or  righteousness  of  our 
own.  The  reverse  order  would  also  involve  the  absurdity  that 
God  regenerates  a  sinner  before  he  justifies  him,  that  is,  while 
he  is  under  condemnation.  But  it  is  involved  in  the  whole 
Lutheran  conception  of  Justification  that  God's  work  for  man 
precedes  God's  work  in  man.  God  must  pardon  a  man's  sins, 
and  give  the  assurance  of  his  love,  before  the  man  can  truly 
love  God,  and  feel  the  new  spiritual  emotions  of  gratitude  and 
love;  for  the  former  conditionates  the  latter,  not  only  in  the 
order  of  logical  priority,  but  in  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect, 
just  as  thinking  is  prior  to  and  the  cause  of  thought.  But  as 
thought  and  thinking  cannot  be  separated  from  each  other  in 
fact,  so  Regeneration  and  Justification  cannot  in  fact  be  separat- 
ed from  each  other.  Where  the  one  is,  the  objective  fact,  th-^re 
the  other  is,  the  subjective  experience.  Where  the  pardon  of 
sin  is,  the  work  of  God  for  us,  there  Regeneration  is,  the  work 
of  God  in  us,  the  result  inseparable  from  the  cause,  and  a  sure 
sign  that  faith  is  true  and  living.  "All  this  takes  p'ace  n-.  t  in 
separate  and  successive  moments  of  time,  but  nno  ictn  t.:mporis^ 
Faith  and  Justification  are  verily  the  cause  ami  ground  of  love 
and  sanctification,  the  latter  the  effect  and  result  of  the  former, 
taking  place  not  in  chronological  succession,  but  m  a  success- 
sion  of  reality.  Were  it  otherwise,  if  love  were  subsequently 
added  to  faith,  then  faith  would  not  in  and  of  itself  be  the  liv- 
ing power  of  love;,  but  it  would  be  first  made  alive  through 
the  superadded  love,  and  we  should  be  carried  back  again  from 
the  idea  of  the  Protestant  fides  viva,  and  brought  into  the  idea 
of  the  Catholic  fides  formata."     (Philippi,  Symbolik.  p.  342.) 


68  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

Again:  '"Faith  justifies  before  God.  in  so  far  as  the  rig-lit- 
eousness  of  Christ  is  imputed  to  it,  which  covers  sin  and  takes 
away  debt,  not  in  so  far  as  the  righteousness  of  Christ  is  in- 
fused into  the  subject,  and  is  stamped  upon  it  as  its  own  sub- 
jective hoHness  and  righteousness.  Faith  justifies  without  ask- 
ing whether  sin  has  been  rooted  out  of  the  heart  and  destroyed 
or  not,  but  because  it  is  covered,  forgiven,  not  reckoned,  not 
regarded  from  the  side  of  God."     (  l^hilHppi.  Symbolik.  p.  338.) 

This,  beyond  question,  is  the  Lutheran  position.  In  the  pas- 
sage already  quoted  from  the  Loci  Melanchthon  declares: 
"When  God  pardons  sins,  he  at  the  same  time  gives  the  Holy 
Ghost,  who  begins  new  virtues.  *  *  *  fhe  new  virtues 
follow  reconciliatiiMi."  (  C.  R.,  21:742)  And  in  his  celebrated 
letter  to  Brentz.  in  1531,  he  writes:  "You  iumgine  that  men 
are  justified  by  faith,  because  by  faith  we  receive  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  afterwards  are  justified  by  the  fulfilling  of  the  law, 
which  is  effected  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  This  supposition  places 
righteousness  in  our  work,  in  our  purity  or  perfection,  albeit 
such  perfection  ought  to  follow  faith.  But  turn  your  eyes 
wholly  from  renovation  and  the  law  to  the  promise  and  toChrist. 
and  know  that  we  are  justified  on  account  of  Christ,  that  is. 
that  we  are  accepted  before  God,  and  find  peace  of  conscience 
not  on  account  of  that  renovation.  Such  renovation  is  not  suf- 
ficient. We  are  justified  by  faith  alone,  not  because  it  is  the 
root,  as  you  write,  but  because  it  lays  hold  on  Christ,  on  ac- 
count of  whom  we  are  accepted."     (C.  R.,  2   :  501.) 

Again,  in  opposition  to  Osiander:  "Our  churches  concede 
that  we  ought  to  be  renewed,  and  that  God  is  the  cause  of 
such  renewal,  and  dwells  in  the  saints.  The  indwelling  is  as 
follows :  The  Son  gives  the  word  of  consolation.  In  this  word 
is  seen  the  will  of  the  Father.  At  the  same  time  he  sends  the 
Holy  Ghost  into  hearts,  who  comforts  the  heart,  and  kindles 
love  and  devotion  and  all  the  virtues.  But  a  person  does  not 
have  reconciliation  and  remission  on  account  of  this  renewing. 
But  pardon  and  reconciliation,  which  are  justification  by  faith 
for  the  sake  of  the  Mediator,  God  and  man,  must  be  received 
first.  When  such  faith  beholds  the  Mediator  we  come  to  God 
and  are  justified,  that  is,  accepted,  not  on  account  of  our  renew- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  69 

ing;  but  righteousness  is  imputed  to  us  on  account  of  the 
Mediator."     ( C.  R.,  8  :  195.) 

Equally  clear  is  Luther.  In  the  Preface  to  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans,  he  says:  "Faith  is  a  divine  work  in  us.  which  changes 
and  regenerates  us  (John  i  :  13).  It  slays  the  oM  Adam, 
H-akes  new  creatures  in  heart,  disposition  and  spiritual  strength, 
and  brings  with  it  the  Holy  Ghost.  Faith  is  a  living,  active, 
::->iighty  thing.  '"  *  '•'  By  faith  the  believer  is  wtaned  from 
sin,  and  conceives  an  affection  for  the  divine  law  ;  by  this  he 
jLiives  God  the  glory,  and  renders  due  honor  to  his  name." 
"Faith,  brings  with  it  a  host  of  splendid  and  glorious  virtues, 
\i,i\  is  never  alone.  H<^nce  the  one  is  not  to  be  confounded 
with  the  other;  and  what  is  of  faith  alone,  is  not  to  be  assigned 
to  virtues  and  works.  Faith  is  like  a  mother  ^'-om  whom 
springs  and  is  ho\n  this  growth  of  splendid  virtues.  Hence 
where  faith  is  not  first,  you  will  seek  in  vain  for  the  virtues  them- 
selves." (Walch,  1  :  1430.)  "These  are  the  two  parts  of 
Justification.  The  first  is  the  grace  revealed  through  Christ, 
that  through  Christ  we  have  a  reconciled  God,  and 
tJiat  sin  no  more  accuse  us.  but  conscience  by 
faith  in  the  merc\-  of  God  is  brought  to  quiet.  The  second  is 
the  gift  of  the  Spirit  with  his  gifts,  who  illumines  against  the 
filth  of  the  spirit  and  flesh,  that  we  may  be  defended  from  the 
:  achinations  of  the  devil.     (Op.  Ex.,  19    :  49.     See  p.   109.) 

"The  two  parts  must  exist  together  in  a  Christian,  and  be 
v'gxd  !!i  Christian  teaching:  F.rst.  faitJi.  nam?1y.  that  by  the 
blood  of  Christ  we  are  redeemed  from  sin  and  have  forgiveness. 
Secondly,  if  we  have  this,  that  zve  then  are  to  becotne  different 
persons  and  walk  in  a  neiv  life.  *  *  *  There  are  two 
things,  the  forgiveness  of  sins  and  the  mortifying  of  the  same, 
and  both  must  be  urged  against  those  who  confuse  and  pervert 
this  order  by  false  doctrine."     (Erl.  Ed.,  8  :  264.) 

The  same  relation  is  exhibited  in  the  Apology:  "Because 
faith  brings  the  Holy  Ghost  and  begets  a  new  life  in  hearts,  it 
nnist  follow  that  it  produces  spiritual  emotions  in  the  heart. 
Therefore  after  that  we  have  been  justified  and  renewed  we 
hegin  to  fear  God.  to  love,  to  thank  and  to  obey  God." 

We  must  be  in  Christ  and  be  clothed  upon  by  his  righteous- 


70  pkocei:dixgs  of  general  conference. 

ness  before  Christ  can  dwell  in  us  and  destroy  the  root  of  sin. 
Only  in  this  way  can  Justification  have  its  true  significance  and 
exert  its  power  in  Christian  teaching  and  life. 

Beginning  with  Calovius.  the  dogmaticians  reversed  this 
order,  thrust  Justification  out  of  its  central  position,  and  post- 
poned it  to  regeneration.  A  hard  and  dry  orthodoxism  now 
entered.  Justification  was  looked  upon  rather  as  a  doctrine  to 
be  believed,  than  as  an  experience  of  salvation  to  be  enjoyed. 
In  a  word.  Lutheranism  had  become  very  un-Lutheran ;  the 
active  principle  of  its  system  had  degenerated  into  a  dogma. 
As  a  result  Christian  life  declined,  and  the  conscious  fellow- 
ship with  God  in  Christ  was  undervalued. 

Luthardt  has  returned  to  the  old  order:  Both  in  his  Dog- 
matik  and  in  his  Glaubensleher,  he  discusses  Faith,  and  Justifi- 
cation before  he  takes  up  Regeneration.  Rohnert  has  the  or- 
der:  Faith.  Justification,  Vocation,  Illumination,  Regeneration 
and  Conversion.  In  treaeating  the  Ordo  Sahttis,  he  says,  ex- 
actly in  accord  with  the  oldest  teachers,  and  with  the  Confes- 
sions :  "As  we  have  seen,  Justification  by  faith  forms  the  real 
central  act  of  divine  grace  by  which  the  sinner  becomes  a  child 
of  God,  and  receives  personal  participation  in  the  redemptive 
work  of  Christ.  With  Justif:cati(,>n  there  i::k-ts  ]^luce-  at  the 
same  time  a  moral  change  of  the  person  by  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  This  entrance  into  a  state  of  grace,  and  the  inner 
change  of  the  justified  connected  therewith,  take  peace  accord- 
ing to  a  distinct  order,  called  the  order  of  salvation."  That 
order  places  "Justification  absolutely  in  the  foreground,  and 
postpones  vocare.  converters  regenerare  et  sanctificare."  (Dog- 
matik  d.  Ev.  Luth.  Kirche,  pp  341-5.) 

2.  Since  Justification  gives  fellowship  with  God  and  a  new 
heart,  two  things  must  follow:  (a)  Where  there  is  fellowship 
with  God  there  must  be  peace  of  conscience  and  delight  in  the 
service  of  God.  As  the  believer's  righteousness  is  the  right- 
eousness of  Christ,  which  is  perfect,  and  which  is  in  no  sense 
the  result  of  human  merit,  it  follows  that  such  righteousness 
must  satisfy  all  sense  of  .«^uilt.  and  every  accusatiovi  ol'  con- 
science. This  result  of  Justification  has  been  most  beautifully 
presented  by  Melanchthon  in  the  Apology:    "Faith  alone  paci- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 


71 


fies  the  heart,  which  obtains  rest  and  hfe  when  it  freely  and 
confidently  relies  on  the  promises  of  God  for  the  sake  of 
Christ.  But  our  works  can  never  pacify  hearts ;  for  we  contin- 
ually find  that  they  are  impure.  Consequently  it  must  follow, 
that  through  faith  alone  we  become  acceptable  to  God  and  are 
righteous  when  we  are  satisfied  in  our  hearts  that  God  will  be 
merciful  to  us,  not  on  account  of  our  works  and  our  fulfillment 
of  the  law,  but  by  grace  alone  for  Christ's  sake."  It  is  this 
confidence  in  the  grace  of  God  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  or  be- 
cause of  the  obedience  and  righteousness  of  Christ,  that  gives 
the  soul  the  sense  of  freedom  from  condemnation,  and  that 
quiets  the  conscience  in  the  hour  of  temptation.  Christ  has 
so  united  himself  with  the  believing  soul  in  spiritual  mar- 
riage, "that  whatever  Christ  possesses,  that  the  believing  soul 
may  take  to  itself,  and  boast  of  as  its  own,  and  whatever  be- 
longs to  the  soul  that  Christ  claims  as  his."  "For  Christ  is 
everlasting  peace,  consolation,  righteousness,  and  life ;  and  to 
these  the  terror  of  the  law,  heaviness  of  mind,  sin,  l;iell,  and 
death,  must  needs  give  place.  So  Christ  living  and  abiding  in 
me,  taketh  away  and  swalloweth  up  all  evils  that  vex  and  af- 
flict me.  This  union  or  conjunction,  then,  is  the  cause  that  I 
am  delivered  from  the  terror  of  the  law  and  sin,  am  separate 
from,  myself,  and  translated  unto  Christ  and  his  kingdom, 
which  is  a  kingdom  of  grace,  righteousness,  peace,  joy,  life,  sal- 
vation and  eternal  glory."  (Commentary  on  Galat.,  Chap.  II, 
V.  20.) 

(b)  As  faith  regenerates  the  heart  and  gives  the  Holy  Ghost, 
the  justificed  person  must  do  works  acceptable  to  God.  The 
new  power  of  love  and  obedience,  the  new  principle  of  life 
within  the  soul,  will  strive  against  sin,  and  will  bring  forth  the 
fruits  of  faith.  Jhey  will  also  prompt  to  the  keeping  of  the 
law,  and  to  ithe  service  of  needy  and  suffering  humanity. 
Luther's  famous  paradox:  "A  Christian  man  is  the  most  free 
lord  of-  all  and  subject  to  none ;  a  Christian  man  is  the  most 
dutiful  servant  of  all,  and  is  subject  to  every  one,"  expresses 
the  true  Christian  life-ideal.  Faith  frees  the  Christian  from 
the  bondage  of  the  law,  and  from  rites  and  ceremonies  instituted 


72  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE, 

by  men ;  but  it  quickens  the  conscience,  animates  the  sense  of 
duty,  and  warms  the  heart  with  love  to  God  and  to  man.  As 
a  living,  acting,  energizing  principle  reigning  in  the  regener- 
ate heart,  it  impels  the  Christian  by  an  inner  necessity  of  his 
new  nature  to  do  the  will  of  God  from  the  soul  (Eph.  6:6). 
"O,  what  a  living,  busy,  active,  mighty  thing  is  faith.  There- 
fore it  is  impossible  for  it  not  to  be  constantly  doing  good.  It 
does  not  inquire  whether  good  works  are  to  be  done,  but  be- 
fore the  question  is  asked,  it  has  done  them,  and  is  always  do- 
ing them.  The  person  who  does  not  do  good  works  is  desti- 
tute of  faith,  gropes  and  looks  about  for  faith  and  good  works, 
and  knows  not  what  faith  and  good  works  are,  though  he 
prates  a  great  deal  about  both."  (Preface  to  Romans'  Erl.  Ed., 
63   :  125.) 

Christian  good  works  consist  in  serving  one's  calling  with 
faith  in  God.  and  with  love  to  one's  neighbor.  Hence  the 
Christian  must  stand  in  his  place,  wait  on  his  calling,  and  do 
good  to  others  as  he  has  opportunity.  "Faith  is  the  actor,  love 
is  the  act.  Faith  brings  man  to  God,  love  brings  him  to  man. 
By  faith  he  becomes  acceptable  to  God ;  by  love  he  does  good 
to  men."  Any  work,  therefore,  that  makes  our  fellowmen 
happier  and  better  is  a  good  work  in  the  Christian  sense,  pro- 
vided it  proceed  from  faith. 

But  we  must  not  carry  this  principle  of  faith  so  far  as  to 
liiaintain  that  the  veracity,  honesty,  and  beneficence  of  non- 
Christian  people,  "are  only  splendid  vices."  God  is  a  Being  of 
moral  discernment,  and  must  approve  truth,  virtue,  and  bene- 
ficence wherever  found,  though  virtues  and  works  can  never 
make  anyone  righteous  before  God,  or  procure  the  pardon  of 
sins'.  The  judge  is  just,  and  he  shall  render  unto  every  man 
according  to  his  deeds  (Matt.  16  :  2j).  We  have  only  to  main- 
tain the  twofold  principle  that  no  conformity  to  the  letter  of 
the  law  can  make  man  righteous  before  God,  and  that  out  of 
faith  will  arise  the  keeping  of  the  law  according  to  its  spirit. 
Hence  Justification  does  not  abrogate  the  law ;  it  gives  power 
to  obey  the  law  out  of  love.     (See  Erl.  Ed.  (Latin)  3:  305.) 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  73 

V. 

THE  RELATION  OF  JUSTIFICATION  TO  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE 
CHURCH. 

I.  Faith  unites  us  with  Christ,  and  makes  us  members  of 
Tiis  body,  so  that  as  beHevers  we  and  Christ  Hve  one  Hfe.  "For 
me  to  live  is  Christ"  (Phil,  i  :  21),  Faith  also  brings  the  Holy 
Ghost  into  our  hearts,  who  sanctifies  and  cleanses  us  from  sin. 
And  as  all  believers  are  united  to  Christ,  their  common  Head, 
and  have  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Sanctifier  of  all,  so  they  come 
to  be  united  to  each  other,  and  to  have  a  like  generic  holiness. 
Hence  they  constitute  the  company  of  believers,  the  congrega- 
tio  sanctorum,  the  sbcietas  Mei  et  Spiritus  Sancti  in  cordibus, 
who  have  "one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism,  one  God  and 
Father  of  all,  who  is  over  all  and  through  all,  and  in  all"  (Eph. 
4  :  5).  This  goodly  company,  thus  united  under  the  same 
headship,  is  the  congregation  of  all  believers  scattered  through- 
out the  earth,  whose  essential  quality  is  holiness.  To  this  con- 
gregation belong  only  those  who  are  first  united  to  Christ  and 
"have  the  Holy  Ghost  dwelling  in  them.  "Ye  were  washed,  ye 
were  sanctified  ye  were  qustified  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  in  the  Spirit  of  our  God"  ( i  Cor.  6  :  ii.)  In  other 
words,  this  congregation  is  a  spiritual  body.  And  as  it  is 
scattered  throughout  the  earth,  or  exists  wherever  the  Gospel 
is  preached  and  the  sacraments  are  administered,  it  is  an  ob- 
ject of  faith :  "I  believe  a  holy  Catholic  Church."  "And  this 
Church  alone  is  called  in  Scripture  the  Body  of  Christ ;  because 
Christ  is  its  head,  and  sanctifies  and  strengthens  it  through  his 
Spirit;  as  Paul  says  (Eph.  i  :  22-23)  •  'And  gave  him  to  be 
Head  over  all  things  to  the  Church,  which  is  his  body,  the  ful- 
ness of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all.'  Therefore,  they  in  whom 
Christ  efiFects  nothing  through  his  Spirit,  are  not  members  of 
Christ."  ( Apology,  VH  and  VHL)  And  yet  this  holy  Catholic 
Church  is  not  an  impersonal  institution,  an  idealistic  conception. 
But  it  is  composed  of  living  persons  to  whom  the  attribute  or 
predicate  "holy"  can  be  applied — a  "living  body,"  "living  mem- 
bers," "a  spiritual  people."  "tlie  pillar  of  truth,"  "the  household 
of  God."  "the  bride  of  Christ."  the  people  who  "believe  that  they 
are  received  into  grace  and  that  their  sins  are  pardoned  for  the 


74  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

sake  of  Christ,  who  by  his  death  makes  satisfaction  for  our  sins."" 
whom  God  "accounts  justos  et  sanctos^  Primarily  this  hoU- 
ness  is  the  imputed  righteousness  of  Christ,  but  it  is  also  the 
personal  sanctity  of  love  to  God  and  to  fellow  Christians : 
"Thus  Paul  enjoins  love  in  the  Church,  which  cultivates  har- 
mony and  which,  as  there  is  need,  bears  the  imperfections  of 
brethren,  and  overlooks  trifling  errors,  in  order  that  the  Church 
may  not  be  divided  into  schisms,  factions  and  heresies."  (Apol- 
ogy, III.)  In  this  Church  is  the  "communion  of  saints."  As 
all  true  believers  have  a  common  Heavenly  Father,  a  common 
Lord,  a  common  faith,  so  they  all  have  eo  ipso  a  common  hope, 
a  common  joy,  and  a  common  right  to  the  means  of  grace  by 
which  the  Holy  Ghost  comforts  hearts  and  sustains  faith. 
Hence  a  seat  in  the  Sanctuary  and  a  seat  at  the  Lord's  Table 
should  be  open  to  everyone  who  professes  "this  faith,"  and  has 
been  baptized,  for  "through  baptism  we  are  first  taken  into  the 
community  of  Christians."  (Larger  Catechism,  IV^ 
ad  initium.)  And  as  we  can  no  more  easily  dis- 
cern who  has  "faith  and  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  heart,"  than 
we  can  discern  who  is  destitute  of  these  internal  qualities,  ex- 
cept where  the  life  is  openly  ungodly  and  impenitent,  so  is  it 
the  duty  of  "the  congregation  of  all  believers"  to  admit  to  her 
communion,  and  to  "the  feast  of  love,"  all  who  name  the  name 
of  the  Lord  and  depart  from  unrighteousness  (2  Tim.  19). 
"For  ye  are  all  sons  of  God,  through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus.  For 
as  many  of  you  as  were  baptized  into  Christ  did  put  on  Christ. 
There  can  be  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  there  can  be  neither  bond 
nor  free,  there  can  be  no  male  and  female ;  for  ye  all  are  one 
in  Christ  Jesus.  And  if  ye  are  Christ's,  then  are  ye  Abraham's 
seed,  heirs  according  to  promise"  (Gal.  3  :  26-29). 

2.  Our  principle  also  requires  us  to  affirm  the  unity  of  the 
Church.  There  are  many  churches  in  the  sense  of  local  or- 
ganizations, or  confraternities  of  believers,  or  aggregations  of 
local  organizations  of  believers  into  national  or  international 
groups  of  churches  having  different  ceremonies  and  different 
views  in  regard  to  many  doctrines  ;  yet  there  is  only  one  Church 
in  the  sense  of  "the  body  of  Christ,"  and  of  "the  pillar  and 
ground  of  the  truth." 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  (O 

To  this  "body"  belong  multitudes  whose  knowledge  is  lim- 
ited and  distorted  ;  who  build  on  the  "pillar,  wood,  hay,  stub- 
ble ;"  but  they  have  a  faith  that  as  really  appropriates  Christ 
and  brings  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  does  the  faith  of  those  who  are 
the  stewards  of  the  mysteries  of  God ;  for  the  quality  of  faith 
is  not  determined  by  its  magnitude.  A  weak,  ignorant,  and 
erring  Christian  "shall  suffer  loss,  but  he  himself  shall  be  sav- 
ed ;  yet  so  as  through  fire"  (i  Cor.  3  :  15).  And  "for  the  true 
unity  of  the  Christian  Church  it  is  sufficient  that  the  Gospel  be 
preached  therein  according  to  its  pure  intent  and  meaning,  and 
that  the  sacraments  be  administered  in  conformity  with  the 
Word  of  God"  (Art.  VII).  But  the  Gospel  is  rightly  preach- 
ed where  it  is  taught  "that  God,  not  on  account  of  our  merits, 
but  on  account  of  Christ,  justifies  those  who  believe  that  for 
Christ's  sake  they  are  received  into  grace"  (Art.  V)  ;  and  the 
sacraments  are  rightly  administered,  when  Baptism  and  the 
Lord's  Supper  are  administered  according  to  the  institution  of 
Christ. 

These  are  the  marks  of  the  Christian  community,  and  it 
must  be  conceded  that  only  in  rare  instances  have  they  been 
so  darkened  and  perverted  that  they  ceased  entirly  to  be  "in- 
struments through  which  God  moves  hearts  to  believing." 
(Apology,  Vn  and  VIII.)  But  wherever  there  are  believing 
hearts,  there  are  members  of  Christ  the  Head,  who  stand  "on 
the  chief  cornerstone ;  in  whom  each  several  building,  fitly 
bound  together,  groweth  into  a  holy  temple  in  the  Lord"  (Eph. 
2  :  21).  Hence,  looked  at  from  the  standpoint  of  Justifica- 
tion by  faith,  it  is  evident  that  there  can  be  but  one  holy  Cath- 
olic Church.  Since  the  Church  in  its  essential  characteristics 
is  composed  of  those  alone  who  are  "holy."  and  since  there  is 
only  one  way  by  which  men  can  become  "hoi},"  it  must  follow 
that  there  cannot  be  two  or  more  churches,  since  the  principle 
of  classification  is  identical  and  invariable.  From  this  it  fol- 
lows that  the  attribute  of  unity  cannot  "be  predicted  (i)  of  any 
particular  Church,  but  of  the  universal  Church,  as  no  particular 
Church  can  claim  that  it  is  the  one  Church.  It  is  one  thing 
to  be  the  one  Church,  and  a  different  thing  to  be  of  the  one 
Church.    The  whole  Church  is  one.    Our  Church  is  of  the  one. 


76  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

(2)  Among  the  various  causes  of  this  unity  and  on  account 
of  which  the  Church  is  called  one,  is  the  one  true  formal  cause, 
namely,  that  aggregation  by  which  many  by  agreement  in  faith 
according  to  the  truth,  and  by  harmony  of  ivill  according  to 
Christ,  have  a  communion  by  means  of  which  many  members 
of  the  same  body  are  one,  because  all  connected  with  the  head 
have  and  receive  from  the  same  head,  the  same  life,  the  same 
feeling  and  afifection;  just  as  many  children  in  the  same  family 
are  one  because  by  the  bond  of  consanguinity  and  love  they  are 
united  to  their  parents.  The  one  formal  ground  of  this  unity 
is  consent  in  regard  to  the  teaching  of  the  gospel  and  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  sacraments.  (3)  Though  this  consent  must 
be  confined  especially  to  the  chief  fundamental  articles,  since  in 
secondary  matters  consent  is  not  always  required,  especially  if 
there  be  no  negation  and  no  heretical  and  positive  dissent." 
(Carpzov,  Isagoge,  p.  303.) 

But  as  this  congregation  of  saints  and  true  believers  actual- 
izes itself  in  "living  members,"  in  "a  spiritual  people,"  so  it 
manifests  itself  openly  in  organizations,  constitutions,  assem- 
blies, in  the  public  preaching  of  the  Gospel  and  the  administra- 
tion of  the  sacraments.  The  essential  Church  thus  creates  the 
empirical  Church,  which  shows  the  attribute  of  visibility. 
Men  can  see  the  Church,  can  locate  it,  can  say.  Here  is  the 
Church.  This  is  the  Church  broadly  so-called,  and  embraces 
all  those  who  profess  faith  in  Christ,  and  by  Baptism  have 
united  themselves  to  the  body  of  which  Christ  is  the  head. 
The  one  distinguishing  attribute,  "holiness."  is  applied  synech- 
dochically  to  all  who  profess  to  have  united  themselves  with 
the  one  only  Source  of  "holiness."  In  this  empirical  Church 
there  are.  doubtless,  many  hypocrites  and  false  Christians. 
Those  have  communion  with  the  saints  in  the  external  rela- 
tions and  blessings  of  the  Church.  They  are  in  the  Church, 
though  not  of  the  Church ;  yet  they  must  be  included  in  the 
Church  as  it  appears  on  earth,  which  "is  like  unto  a  net.  that 
was  cast  into  the  sea,  and  gathered  of  every  kind"  (Matt. 
T3   :47)- 

"Now  although  the  wickeJ,  and  ungodly  hypocrites,  have 
fellowslnp  with  the  true  Church  in  extern?!  sisfns.  in  name  and 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  IT 

office,  yet  when  we  would  strictly  define  what  the  Church  is, 
we  must  speak  of  the  Church  called  the  body  of  Christ,  and 
having  communion  not  only  in  external  signs,  but  also  holding 
faith  and  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  (Apology,  VII  and 
VIII.)  Faith  and  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost  are  Justification 
according  to  its  two  sides. 


REMARKS. 


The  Rev.   Dr.   Seiss  said: — 

My.  President:  I  wish  to  say,  that  I  regard  it  a  good  fortune 
that  the  arrangements  for  this  Conference  provided  for  the 
consideration  of  the  great  and  all-conditioning  doctrine  of 
Justification  by  Faith  in  Christ,  which  has  resulted  in  the  time- 
ly and  able  papers  to  which  we  have  listened.  We  cannot  too 
much  emphasize  this  heart  essence  of  the  Gospel,  so  essential 
to  true  Christian  Jife  hope,  especially  in  these  days  of  pop- 
ular drifting  away  from  the  vital  elements  of  the  only  saving 
religion.  , 

Both  of  these  essays  very  well  cover  the  fields  of  contempla- 
tion to  which  they  are  ilevoted.  We  need  to  have  it  clearly 
shown  what  Justification  by  faith  means,  and  what  are  its  re- 
lations to  other  parts  of  the  Christian  system.  The  very  life 
of  the  Church,  its  teaching  and  preaching,  and  the  eternal 
salvation  of  its  individual  members,  are  bound  up  in  this  doc- 
trine. Redemption  tlirough  Christ's  blood,  appropriated  by 
an  intelligent  and  living  faith,  is  the  only  hope  of  sinful  man. 
It  is  therefore  to  be  conmmended  that  so  much  stress  has  been 
laid  upon  this  doctrine  by  these  papers,  and  that  the  first  has 
so  clearly  emphasized  Christ's  sacrificial  death  as  the  meritor- 
ious ground-work  of  our  forgiveness  and  justification.  This 
is  according  to  the  Scriptures  throughout,  and  our  testimony 
on  this  point  must  never  be  the  least  abated.  And  yet,  when 
we  come  to  state  the  object  on  which  justifying  faith  rests, 
it  will  not  answer  to  limit  our  contemplations  to  the  single  fact 
of  Christ's  death,  without  embracing  some  other  very  vital 
things. 

The  sacrificial  death  of  Christ,  however  central  in  the  work 
of  redemption,  separately  considered,  does  not  take  in  all  that 


78  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

is  involved  in  justifying  faith.  The  affecting  transactions  of 
GcKid  Friday  need  to  take  in  the  great  fact  noted  by  Christmas 
for  their  saving  virtue  and  efficacy.  We  must  have  the  Incar- 
nation, in  order  to  an  avaiUng  propitiation.  We  must  have  a 
God-man  on  the  cross,  in  order  triumphantly  to  glory  in  it. 
Both  the  essays  assume  this,  and  also  refer  to  it.  But  justi- 
fying faith  must  needs  have  regard  to  the  Incarnation  of  the 
Son  of  God  in  order  to  see  in  His  death  an  adequate  satisfac- 
tion for  our  sins. 

But  even  the  Incarnate  Son  of  God  submitting  to  death  to 
atone  for  human  guilt,  is  still  not  all  that  saving  faith  needs  for 
that  hopeful  confidence  and  assurance  which  the  Gospel  is 
meant  to  give.  A  dead  Christ,  although  having  met  the  w^hole 
penalty  due  to  our  sins,  is  not  all  that  is  required.  With  noth- 
ing but  His  death  upon  the  cross  to  rest  on,  however  meritor- 
ious that  death,  we  are  still  left  without  the  satisfying  demon- 
stration that  it  has  been  accepted,  that  the  debt  has  been  paid, 
and  that  He  is  able  to  save  unto  the  uttermost.  Good  Friday 
must  have  an  Easter  to  follow  it,  as  well  as  a  Christmas  to  pre- 
cede it.  We  need  a  living  Saviour,  a  Master  of  death,  one 
whom  the  Law  having  slain  as  a  substitute  for  sinners  could 
not  hold  under  its  power,  and  hence  the  glorious  Resurrection 
of  Christ  as  well  as  His  sacrificial  death.  Otherwise,  how  could 
we  be  sure  that  His  sacrifice  of  His  life  in  our  stead  really  has 
availed  for  our  justification  and  release? 

Saving  faith  must  accordingly  take  in  the  Saviour  risen 
again  from  the  dead,  as  well  as  His  vicarious  death.  He  was 
"delivered  for  our  offences,"  but  had  to  be  "raised  again  for 
our  justification :"  for  so  the  Word  is,  "If  Christ  be  not  raised, 
your  faith  is  vain;  ye  are  yet  in  your  sins." 

I  am  well  convinced  that  neither  of  these  two  essayists  had 
tlie  remotest  idea  of  excluding  from  their  views  of  justifying 
faith  the  necessary  regard  to  the  Deit}%  or  the  Resurrection  of 
Christ.  But  it  passed  through  my  mind  while  listening  to  the 
first,  that  along  with  such  an  intense  emphasizing  of  the  death 
of  Christ  as  the  supreme  thing  embraced  by  saving  faith,  it 
might  be  well  to  note  what  rendered  that  death  for  our  sins  of 
such  effective  worth,  and  the  demonstration  of  its  acceptance 
furnished  b}'  our  Saviour's  resurrection,  as  likewise  entering 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  79 

very  essentially  into  what  faith  embraces  as  the  ground  of 
our  justification.  Hence  these  remarks,  not  intended  in  any 
way  to  discredit  the  admirable  papers  which  have  just  been 
read,  but  in  the  same  line  with  them. 


The  Rev.  Dr.  Spieker  said : — 

The  importance  of  this  great  material  principle  cannot  be 
over  estimated.  The  Lutheran  Church  is  specially  called  to 
hear  witness  to  the  fundamental  charactei  of  this  i)t'nciple 
both  for  her  own  sake  and  for  the  sake  of  ui.h'-is  who  do  not 
realize  how  the  life  of  the  :lu'tch  depo:"ls  upon  it.  So  compre- 
hensive is  this  principle  that  it  includes  the  whole  sacramental 
sphere,  extending  to  the  l;eginni.i.g  of  Christian  life  in  the  r**- 
ception  of  grace  by  infants  in  Holv  ll-indsni.  It  may  be  tenn- 
ed  the  heart  of  the  Christian  system,  controlling  every  func- 
tion the  least  as  well  as  the  greatest.  Historically  the  Luther- 
an Church  is  the  bearer  of  this  standard,  and  is  bound  to  pre- 
serve it  in  all  its  integrity. 


RELATION   OF   YOUNG   PEOPLES'    SOCIETIES    TO 
THE  CONGREGATION. 

By  the  Rev.  C.  Armand  Miller. 
The  subject  announced  involves  the  radical  questions  con- 
nected with  the  discussion  of  the  value  of  Young  Peoples'  So- 
cieties to  the  Church.  It  involves  also  a  more  far-reaching 
question,  that  of  the  place  and  right  of  organizations  in  gen- 
eral, in  the  Church.  In  the  familiar  phrase,  there  are  three 
divinely  ordained  institutions,  the  Church,  the  Home  a;id  the 
State.  This  entirely  unobjectionable  statement,  however,  is 
sometimes  interpreted  to  mean  that  nothing  is  authorized,  or 
to  be  permitted  without  protest,  which  was  not,  in  its  present 
form,  in  one  of  these  three  original  institutions,  at  the  begining. 
Tiic  objector  to  all  sorts  of  orgar.izations  in  the  Church  would 
hardly  admit,  nevertheless,  that  his  dictum  was  to  be  applied 
to  the  State.  The  original  divine  institution  of  the  State  had 
nothing  in  it  whatever,  except,  its  divinely  given  authority, 
which  is  like  what  we  recognize  as  the  State  to  which  we  owe 
the  dutv  inculcated  in  the  fourth  Commandment.     The  mode 


80  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

of  deriving-,  and  of  exercising  that  authority,  is  absolutely  dif- 
ferent. The  original  State  had  no  federation  of  Common- 
wealths, no  elective  houses  of  legislation,  no  distribution  of 
legislative,  judicial  and  executive  functions,  no  periodical  out- 
bursts of  political  frenzy  connected  with  the  expression  of  the 
will  of  the  sovereign  people.  Are  all  these  things  to  be  absolute- 
ly rejected,  as  unauthorized,  because  not  found  in  their  presen.t 
form  in  the  first  phase  of  the  State's  existence  ?  Are  there  not 
also  in  tlie  system  of  discipline,  education,  and  even  mutual 
bearing  of  the  members  of  the  Christian  home  of  today,  of  the 
best  type,  many  things  which  widely  differ  from  the  original 
institution  of  the  home,  and  from  its  conditions  in  past  cen- 
turies? Is  all  which  was  not  characteristic,  in  every  detail,  of 
the  home  founded  by  Adam  and  Eve  to  be  condemned  as  witli- 
out  divine  warrant?  And  shall  this  same  criticism  which  we 
are  compelled  to  find  untenable  in  reference  to  the  other  two 
original  divine  instituions,  be  held  binding  in  its  application  to 
the  Church  ?  Here  we  can  go  farther  than  we  have  yet  done, 
and  claim  that  there  is  indication  clearly  given,  of  the  right  to 
adapt  the  organization  of  the  Church  to  changing  circum- 
stances, in  the  very  charter  of  the  Church,  the  Book  of  the 
Acts.  On  the  day  of  Pentecost,  the  Church  received  the  very 
simple  form  of  a  body  of  believing  witnesses,  receiving  others. 
who  believed,  into  their  fellowship  by  baptism.  This  continued 
until  the  demands  of  the  needy  who  were  cared  for  by  the 
brotherly  love  of  those  more  able  to  bestow  gifts,  became  so 
exigent  that  to  respond  to  them  formed  too  great  a  part  of 
the  duties  of  the  leaders  of  the  Church.  Then,  by  distinct.divine 
appointment,  tiie  deacons  vv-ere  set  apart,  to  "serve  tables"  and 
to  leave  undisturbed,  in  their  specific  duty,  those  who  were  to 
give  themselves  to  prayer  and  the  Word.  It  might,  of  course, 
be  possible  to  see  in  this  appointment  of  the  deacons  only  one 
specific  act  in  the  per f eating  of  a  cast-iron  organization  of 
the  Church  ;  or  it  might  be  possible,  and  it  would  seem  to  some 
at  least  more  consistent,  to  see  in  it  a  typical  illustration  and 
justification  of  the  adaptation  of  the  form  and  method  of 
church  organization  to  the  changing  needs  of  the  time  and 
place  of  the  church's  life.  If  the  first  alternative  is  taken,  then 
the  diaconate  is  the  only  organized  activity  in  the  Church  which 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  81 

has  a  right  to  live:  if  the  second,  then  it  stands  as  the  type 
of  the  principle  of  assignment  of  specific  work  to  special  groups 
of  men,  within  and  as  a  part  of  the  Church.  The  Church  has 
unquestionably  always  taken  the  second  view.  Without  spe- 
cific divine  command  we  find  the  organization,  in  New  Testa- 
ment times,  of  the  female  diaconate,  and  in  later  times  of  a  host 
of  subordinate  workers,  forming  a  definite  organization  within 
the  Church,  and  known  as  lectors,  singers,  door-keepers,  acoly- 
tes, exorcists,  etc.  Catechists,  in  our  own  Church,  since  the  time 
of  Bartholomew  Ziegenbalg  have  had  a  recognized  place  and 
work,  though  there  is  no  claim  that  they  were  definitely  men- 
tioned in  the  primeval  divine  institution  of  the  Church.  So, 
in  reference  to  the  banding  together  of  workers  for  specific 
objects,  in  the  Church,  with  its  authority  and  under  its  con- 
trol. As  the  work  expands,  and  as  the  workers  become  nu- 
merous, there  is  to  be  found  for  every  man  his  work.  Some, 
for  more  than  two  hundred  years,  have  found  their  work  in 
the  organization  within  the  Church  which  we  call  the  Sunday 
School.  Others  have  grouped  themselves  into  Missionary  So- 
cieties. The  Church  Council,  with  its  committees  for  detailed 
duties,  the  Synods  with  their  officers  and  committees,,  and 
other  perfectly  familiar  and  unquestioned  forms  of  Church  or- 
ganization are  illustrations  of  the  fact  that  the  Church  has 
never  considered  herself  bound  to  the  absolute  limitation  of 
her  machinery  to  the  pristine  simplicity  of  the  day  when  evan- 
gelizing was  her  whole  task  and  the  problems  of  training,  of 
governing,  of  education,  of  the  organized  ministry  of  love, 
had  not  arisen. 

The  question,  "What  is  the  relation  of  the  Young  Peoples' 
Societies  to  the  Congregation,"  seems  to  the  writer,  to  be  an- 
swered in  what  has  gone  before.  That  relation  is  precisely 
the  same  as  the  relation  of  every  form  of  organization  used 
and  accepted  in  the  Church,  and  not  explicitly  provided  for  in 
the  congregation  of  Apostolic  days.  It  is  not  a  relation  of 
alliance  but  of  idenity.  The  Church  Council,  for  instance,  or 
the  Church  Trustees,  are  the  Church,  at  work  in  the  persons 
of  certain  appointed  individuals,   for  a  certain   defined     end. 


82  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

The  Sunday  School  is  the  Church  at  work  in  the  instruction 
of  its  youth.  The  Missionary  Society  is  the  Church,  grouped 
for  convenience  and  efficiency  according  to  some  principle  of 
association,  at  work,  for  a  particular  field,  or  for  a  particular 
task  in  connection  with  the  one  fundamental  activity  of  the 
Church,  the  extension  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  These,  in 
the  original  unit  of  the  Church,  the  congregation.  So  the 
Synod,  or  the  Boards  are  the  Church,  not  in  all  its  individuals, 
but  in  certain  specified  ones,  at  work  in  directing  or  encourag- 
ing the  whole  Church  in  some  locality  or  in  some  specific  feature 
of  its  mission.  In  precisely  the  same  way,  but  as  limited  to  the 
Congregation,  tjie  Young  Peoples"  Society  is  the  Church,  in 
its  youth,  organized  and  guided  for  the  accomplishment  of 
certain  necessary  ends  among  themselves.  This  conception  of 
the  Young  Peoples'  Society  demands  a  realization  of  the  ideal 
in  the  characteristics  of  its  form  of  organization.  It  must  be, 
like  the  Sunday- School,  and  like  every  other  organization  of 
the  congregation,  under  the  direct  control  of  that  body,  and 
since  the  congregation  is  represented  officially  by  the  pastor 
and  church  council,  the  constitution  of  the  Young  Peoples'  So- 
ciety must  recognize  the  supreme  authority  in  definite  terms. 
If  it  is  organized  by  the  consent  of  the  congregation,  and  in 
a  way  acceptable  to  it,  the  society  has  a  right  to  be  considered 
as  prosecuting  its  work  under  the  authority  of  the  congrega- 
tion, and  is  entitled  to  the  definition  already  given.  It  is  the 
congregation  at  work  for  and  by  its  young  people. 

It  would  seem  that  many  of  the  objections  made  to  the 
work  of  the  societies  under  discussion  are  based  upon  a  mis- 
taken view  of  the  relation  the}'  are  supposed  to  bear  to  the 
congregation.  This  mistake  may  apply  in  reference  to  wl^at 
has  been,  so  far,  the  subject  of  our  consideration,  tlie  ques- 
tion of  organic  relation,  the  question  of  control  and  authority. 
Or  again,  it  may  be  a  mistake,  possibly  not  without  excuse, 
as  to  the  object  of  the  society.  The  theme  assigned  as  the  sub- 
ject of  this  paper  suggests  a  most  important  principle,  viz : 
that  the  Young  Peoples'  Society  is  essentially  a  local,  congre- 
gational agency,  whose  field  is  that  of  the  congregation  of 
which  it  is  a  part,  and  whose  work  is  for  and  in  that  congre- 
gation.    Just  as  much  as  any  committee,  properly  appointed 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  83 

and  organized  in  the  congregation  is  for  the  specific  task  as- 
signed it  by  its  creator,  so  is  the  Young  Peoples'  Society  re- 
sponsible to  the  congregation  which  is  working  through  it, 
and  is  limited  to  the  sphere  and  activity  to  which  the  congre- 
gation binds  it."  It  does  not  exist  chiefly,  or  at  all,  for  the  so- 
cial fraternization  of  its  members,  or  for  any  aim  which  finds 
its  end  in  them,  but  for  the  furtherance  of  the  work  of  the  con- 
gregation with  which  it  is  connected  as  an  integral  part,  to 
be  useful  in  those  directions  and  for  those  purposes  which  are 
entrusted  to  it.  The  motto  of  the  Luther  League,  "Of  the 
Church,  by  the  Church,  for  the  Church,"  is  dis- 
tinctly to  be  understood  as  meaning  "of  and  by 
and  for  the  congregation."  Whether  a  Young- 
Peoples"  Society  is  to  be  formed  in  any  particular  congrega- 
tion, therefore,  is  a  question  for  the  pastor  and  officers  of  that 
congregation  to  decide.  What  is  to  be  the  peculiar  character 
and  aim  of  any  particular  society  is  to  be  determined  by  the 
congregation  within  which  it  exists.  The  Young  Peoples' 
Society,  it  cannot  be  too  strongly  emphasized,  exists  in  order 
to  be  a  strong,  efficient  factor  in  the  congregational  life.  It 
is  not  to  diffuse  its  activities  and  confuse  its  aims  among  a 
vague,  wide  realm  of  objects  desirable  in  themselves,  but  not 
within  its  scope.  It  is  to  concenter  every  force  it  has  upon 
the  upbuilding  of  the  congregation,  to  seek  only  those  ends 
which  the  congregation  seeks,  and  which  the  congregation  as- 
signs to  it  as  suitable  to  its  own  activities. 

Within  this  clearly  marked  sphere  the  Young  Peoples'  So- 
ciety may  be  considered  to  have  two  main  purposes.  The  first 
is  to  provide  a  field  for  the  development  of  Christian  service, 
its  ideals,  and  the  opportunity  for  their  exercise.  The  recently 
confirmed  member  of  the  congregation  discovers,  as  a  rule,  no 
work  at  hand  within  his  reach,  and  no  direction  as  to  how  to 
undertake  the  service  of  the  Lord  except  in  the  routine  of 
the  ordinary  Christian  duties.  He  has  been  taught  in  the 
catechetical  class  the  ideal  of  service,  but  if  he  is  not  given 
the  practical  opportunity  to  exemplify  that  ideal  no  long  time 
will  be  required  until  he  shall  have  fallen  into  a  comfortable, 
easy-going  way  of  living  that  will  satisfy  him,  but  profit  no 
one.    To  find  a  duty  for  each  individual,  to  set  to  each  one  his 


84  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

task,  will  prove  a  difificult  problem  to  the  conscientious  pastor, 
and  will  tax  his  judgment  and  invention  almost  beyond  his 
powers.  But  with  the  aid  of  organization,  with  systematized 
effort,  it  can  be  done.  This  systematized  effort  is  easily  pro- 
vided for  in  the  Young  Peoples'  Society.  Here  in  the  sub- 
division of  committees  every  one  can  be  assigned  to  a  fitting 
work.  If  a  certain  talent  is  clearly  possessed  the  selection 
of  the  work  for  its  possessor  is  easy,  but  if  not,  in  the  various 
duties  of  the  visiting  committee,  the  flower  committee,  the  lit- 
erary committee,  the  social  committee,  etc.,  a  place  can  be 
found  in  which  the  occasion  for  development  in  lines  of  in- 
creasing and  varied  activity,  is  possible  and  probable.  If  vou 
smile  at  the  apparent  triviality  of  the  service  suggested  in  the 
names  of  some  of  these  committees  you  may  not  inappro- 
priately be  reminded  that  "a  cup  of  cold  water"  given  in  the 
name  of  a  disciple,  will  not  go  unrewarded,  and  further,  that 
it  is  not  so  .important,  for  the  purpose  in  view,  to  have  some 
great  thing  done,  as  to  train  our  youth  in  the  ideal  that  to  lead 
a  Christian  life  means  to  be  doing  something  for  Christ.  The 
habit  of  Christian  service  is  the  habit  which  the  Young  Peo- 
ples' Society  is  intended  and  adapted  to  form.  From  this 
standpoint  the  Young  Peoples'  Society  may  be  regarded  as 
an  instrumentality  for  the  utilization  of  forces  that  would 
otherwise  be  liable  to  lie  latent.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  ac- 
tual sum  total  of  the  activities  of  the  Young  Peoples'  Socie- 
ties is  by  no  means  to  be  slightly  esteemed,  and  this  also  is 
to  be  taken  into  consideration  in  any  estimate  of  the  value  of 
the  relation  of  the  Young  Peoples'  Societies  to  the  congre- 
gation. 

The  second  main  purpose  of  these  societies  is  to  serve  as  a 
means  of  securing  further  study,  clearer  understanding  of  the 
faith  of  the  congregation,  and  therefore  the  society  provides 
a  post-confirmation  course  of  study  in  the  doctrines,  history, 
liturgy,  missions,  etc.,  of  the  Church.  Under  the  direction  of 
committees  it  sees  to  the  acquirement  of  a  library  of  selected 
books  on  these  themes.  It  encourages  and  directs  Bible  study, 
and  through  devotional  meetings  and  the  preparation  of  pa- 
pers on     allotted      themes     actually  accomplishes  noteworthy 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  85 

results  in  this  direction.  The  amount  of  useful  work  that 
can  be  performed  in  this  way  is  limited  only  by  the  earnest- 
ness and  activity  of  the  workers  and  the  encouragement  given 
by  the  pastor  and  the  officers  of  the  congregation.  It  is  safe 
to  say,  however,  that  what  has  been  achieved  in  the  past  is 
but  a  beginning,  and  that  here  is  a  means  at  hand  for  large 
usefulness  in  the  solution  of  the  problem  wh^ch  we  all  feel  to 
be  so  pressing,  of  the  further  indoctrination  of  the  young  peo- 
ple, who  are  only  too  ready,  without  some  such  systematic 
plan  and  stimulus,  to  rest  content  with  what  they  have  learned 
in  the  catechetical  class.  In  this  phase  of  the  work  of  the 
Young  Peoples'  Society  in  relation  to  the  congregation,  there 
is  great  potency,  as  yet  largely  undeveloped,  to  arouse  the 
love  and  loyalt}'  of  our  youth. 

The  theory  of  the  relation  of  the  Young  Peoples'  Society 
to  the  congregation  which  has  been  presented  may  seem  to 
limit  the  work  of  each  society  too  much.  But  this  is  only 
seeming.  If  the  field  is  limited  in  its  definition,  it  is  not  in 
its  material.  There  is  always  enough  to  be  done,  in  any  con- 
gregation, to  employ  to  the  full  the  energy  of  every  person 
who  is  willing  to  serve.  There  is  always  a  large  work  of  gen- 
eral benevolence  and  Christian  love  for  which  the  congrega- 
tion is  responsible,  outside  of  its  actual  membership.  There 
are  brethren  of  the  same  household  of  faith  to  be  cared  for 
in  our  hospitals,  and  almshouses,  and  even  wandering  ones, 
for  whom  we  have  a  responsibility,  in  our  pei^al  institutions. 
Within  and  without  the  particular  congregation's  personnel, 
there  is  a  sufficient  space  for  the  activity  of  the  society. 

If  the  Young  Peoples'  Society  is  the  congregation  at  work 
for  its  youth,  and  that  alone,  the  question  may  arise,  what  is 
the  relation  of  the  gatherings,  or  conventions  of  these  so- 
cieties, to  the  Church?  Are  not  such  gatherings  inconsistent 
with  the  nature  and  purpose  of  the  societies,  if  these  have 
been  correctly  stated  in  this  paper?  At  first  sight,  the  ques- 
tion may  seem  to  demand  an  affirmative  answer,  but  a  further 
examination  seems  to  give  different  response.  These  con- 
ventions are  simply  conferences,  neither  claiming  nor  attempt- 
ing to  wield  authority,  in  which  those  who  are  interested  in 
the   methods   and   activities   that  promise,   and   in   experience 


86  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

have  been  found,  to  give  the  best  results  in  the  work  of  our 
young  people  in  the  congregations,  meet  for  the  comparison 
of  views,  and  for  consultation  and  mutual  encouragement  and 
advice.  While  members  of  different  Synods  meet  together 
thus,  on  terms  of  entire  mutual  confidence  and  recognition,  as 
they  do,  for  instance,  in  this  Conference,  they  meet  upon  the 
well-understood  basis  of  membership  in  the  One  ^hurch  whose 
faith  is  expressed  in  the  Unaltered  Augsburg  Confession. 
They  do  not  meet  to  discuss  or  settle  questions  of  faith, — the 
relation  of  each  society  to  a  congregation  which  has  accepted 
and  confessed  the  faith  has  already  obviated  any  necessity  for 
that,  but  they  meet  to  plan  and  stimulate  greater  activity,  to 
seek  to  help  each  other  to  bring  forth  the  fruits  of  faitli  in 
richer  abundance.  The  results  of  their  meetings,  whatever  of 
inspiration  and  of  instruction  may  be  gained,  are  to  be  devoted 
to  the  advantage  of  the  local  field  of  the  individual  society. 
The  true  conception  of  this  relation  shows  the  incorrectness 
of  the  contention  that  a  doctrinal  basis  should  be  formally  laid 
down  in  the  constitution  of  the  societies.  They  are  not  a  con- 
fessing body.  They  are  already  in  and  a  part  of  the  Church 
which  has  confessed  and  does  confess  the  pure  faith. 

To  sum  up,  the  relation  of  the  Young  Peoples'  Society  to  the 
congregation  may  be  considered  from  the  standpoint  of  prin- 
ciple or  of  practice.  From  the  former,  it  is  to  be  regarded  as 
not  separate  from  the  congregation,  not  allied  with  it,  not 
even,  in  the  strict  sense  a  part  of  it,  but  much  more,  as  the 
congregation  itself,  delegating  certain  specific  features  of  its 
work  for  the  young,  to  the  young  who  are  of  its  own  member- 
ship. As  standing  in  this  relation,  under  the  control,  as  the 
whole  congregation  of  necessity  is,  of  the  pastor  and  Church 
Council,  the  Young  Peoples'  Society  can  be  made  just  whai 
the  congregation  will  have  it  to  be. 

From  the  standpoint  of  practice,  the  Young  Peoples'  Socie- 
ty is  the  active  instrumentality  of  the  congregation  to  develope 
the  love  and  loyalty  of  its  young  members,  through  the  adapta- 
tion to  each  of  a  certain  part  of  the  work,  and  through  the 
awakening  of  interest  in  further  reading  and  study  of  devo- 
tional and  churchly  literature.     To  this  may  be  added  as  an 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 


87 


incidental  feature  of  the  practical  work  of  ihe  society  what, 
nnforunately  is  sometimes  made  to  take  up  too  large  a  space 
in  the  fore-ground,  the  cultivation  of  the  actual  sense  of 
Christian  fellowship  through  personal  association.  If  such 
is  the  nerve  of  what  is  called  the  social  work,  this  may  become 
a  very  helpful  and  blessed  feature  of  the  Young  Peoples'  So- 
ciety. If  the  effort  is  made  to  enter  into  competition  with  the 
concert-halls  of  the  neighborhood,  the  so-called  social  work 
will  sufifer  very  disastrous  defeat  in  every  direction. 

It  is  the  conviction  of  the  writer  that  the  relation  of  the 
Young  Peoples'  Society  to  the  congregaticu,  rightly  under- 
stood and  applied,  fully  justifies  the  employment  and  encour- 
agement of  this  organization  in  the  work  of  the  Church  for 
her  youth. 


REMARKS. 


The  Rev.  C.  L.  Fry  said : — 

It  may  surely  be  taken  for  granted,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  we 
are  all  agreed  on  the  proposition,  //'  a  Young  Peoples'  Society 
be  salutary  at  all,  the  more  its  effect  is  to  build  up  its  members 
in  the  doctrines,  the  history  and  the  spirit  of  their  own  Church, 
the  more  valuable  an  agency  it  will  become.  There  is  just 
such  a  Young  Peoples'  League  within  our  Lutheran  Church 
in  this  country,  organized  for  the  specific  purpose  of  deepen- 
ing in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  its  members  a  clear  and  strong 
apprehension  of  our  distinctive  faith  and  cultus.  The  Luther 
League  has  not  been  in  existence  long  enough  to  warrant  any 
reasonable  expectation  of  its  making  a  universal  marked  im- 
press on  the  life  of  the  Church  as  a  whole,  nor  has  its  aim 
from  the  very  beginning  been  anything  but  to  do  a  quiet,  un- 
pretentious, educative  work,  whose  influence  shall  gradually 
be  felt,  more  and  more,  in  the  growing  intelligence  and  effic- 
iency of  the  laymen  who  go. as  delegates  to  our  Synods,  and 
the  women  who  attend  our  Mission  Conventions. 

One  thing,  however,  we  dare  assert,  with  no  little  satisfac- 
tion and  confidence,  on  the  floor  of  such  a  General  Confer- 
ence as  this :  the  Luther  League  has  at  least  niade  no  monu- 
mental mistakes,  and  in  so  far  has  splendidly  disappointed  all 


»8  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

the  suspicions  which  prophesied  dire  results  from  giving  a 
measure  of  responsibiUty  and  power  into  the  hands  of  our 
young  people.  We  owe  it  to  them  to  publicly  say  that  these 
young  people  have  given  conspicuous  and  conclusive  proof 
that  they  well  deserve  to  be  trusted.  In  the  management  of 
the  affairs  of  the  League  they  have  shown  themselves  to  be 
of  a  thoroughly  conservative  as  well  as  wisely  progressive 
spirit,  and  this  augurs  hopefully  for  the  future. 

The  special  importance  which  from  the  first  has  been  at- 
tached to  the  weekly  study  of  the  Scriptural  topics,  and  the 
use  of  the  prescribed  Reading  Courses,  is  another  good  omen. 
These  five  instructive  little  volumes,  which  I  here  hold  in  my 
hand,  are  a  sample  of  the  Reading  Courses.  One  of  the 
books  is  doctrinal,  the  second  history,  the  third  devotional, 
the  fourth  missionary,  and  the  fifth  biography.  There  are  four 
courses  outlined  thus  far.  A  literature  certificate,  with  cor- 
responding seals,  is  issued  on  their  completion.  What  a  mag- 
nificent thing  it  would  be,  Mr.  Chairman,  if  through  the  hosts 
of  our  young  people  we  cold  create  a  demand  for  a  distinctive- 
ly American  Lutheran  Literature,  precisely  adapted  to  meet 
our  unique  and  particular  needs  in  this  our  own  land !  If  our 
American  Lutheran  authors  would  be  stimulated  by  knowing 
that  the  very  best  expositions  of  which  they  are  capable  will 
be  welcomed  with  enthusiastic  appreciation  and  wide  diffu- 
sion, especially  on  the  part  of  all  the  Leagues  in  the  land ! 

Nor  dare  the  social  function  be  entirely  omitted.  How 
vastly  much  would  it  m.ean  for  the  advancement  of  the  work 
and  the  influence  of  our  Church,  if  there  were  a  personal  ac- 
quaintance and  mutual  co-operation  among  the  young  people 
of  our  various  congregations !  And  this  can  best  be  effected 
only  through  some  such  organization  as  the  Luther  League. 


The  Rev.  Dr.  Kunznian  said : — 

Societies  are  organizations.  That  our  young  people  must 
be  organized  for  work  is  self-evident.  How  they  are  to  be 
organized  is  a  question  of  expediency.  The  apostolate  and 
the  ministry  were  offices  in  the  organized  Christian  Church 
for  the  ministry  of  the  word,  but  the  offices  of  deacon  and 
deaconess  were  soon  found  necessarv  to  take  care  of  the  work 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  89 

of  mercy  in  the  growing  Church.  As  trade  expands,  men  are 
arranged  in  departments  and  become  effective  as  specialists. 
So  as  the  work  of  the  Church  increases,  widens  and  diversi- 
fies no  individual  or  set  of  individuals  can  become  proficient 
in  all  its  departments,  and  hence  individuals  and  sets  of  individ- 
uals devote  themselves  and  necessarily  organize  for  these  dif- 
ferent works.  If  we  examine  the  needs  of  our  day,  it  will  not 
be  difficult  to  decide  as  to  whether  it  be  profitable  and  expedi- 
ent to  organize  our  young  people  into  distinct  societies  and  as- 
sign to  them  distinct  work. 

But  I  desire  to  call  special  attention,  not  to  the  how.  but  to 
the  necessity  of  the  arganization  of  young  people.  You  can 
never  do  anything  with  and  through  any  number  of  persons 
without  organization.  As  a  Christian  is  a  doer  and  not  only  a 
hearer  of  the  word,  and  in  the  Church  stands  related  to  his 
fellow  Christians,  the  Church  needs  to  be  organized  for  work. 
While  justified  by  faith  alone,  the  faith  which  justifies  is  never 
alone.  We  learn  the  truth  of  the  Gospel  by  obedience  to  its 
precepts,  by  doing  the  will  of  God.  We  prove  to  the  world 
the  preciousness  of  the  Gospel  and  its  divinity  by  doing  the 
works  of  Christ.  The  first  table  of  the  law  brings  us  in  rela- 
tion to  God  and  the  second  announces  our  duty  to  our  fellow- 
men.  And  as  in  the  Church  we  stand  related  to  other  Chris- 
tians, we  connot  in  imion  with  them  discharge  our  duties  ex- 
cept through  organization.     Christ  came  to  minister. 

We  devote  much  thought,  care  and  labor  to  the  young  in 
our  Church.  We  demand  that  they  be  instructed  in  the  home, 
the  school  and  catechetical  class  and  prepared  for  full  com- 
munion. We  confirm  them  by  the  hundreds.  To  this  that 
they  may  bear  fruit?  What  advantage  is  all  this  unless  we 
organize  them  in  this  world  of  need  to  minister  to  their  fellow- 
men?  The  Church  which  expects  nothing  receives  nothing 
of  its  young  people  and  the  Church  which  would  make  them 
active  must  organize  them. 


90  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

THE  PLACE  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  IN  LUTHERAN 
THEOLOGY. 

By  Rev.  Prof.  /..  C.  Moser,  D.  D. 

Nowhere  else  does  the  difference  between  Lutheran  theology 
and  all  other  theologies  appear  more  manifest  than  in  the  place 
given  to  the  Holy  Spirit  in  these  systems.  Here  the  most 
marked  distinctions  occur.  Here  are  some  of  the  most  important 
points  of  divergence  that  separate  Lutheranism  from  all  other 
teachings.  It  is  a  difference  that  appears  not  only  in  theoretical 
statement,  but  one  that  in  practical  matters  and  methods  of 
work  makes  and  marks  our  Lutheran  Church  separate,  peculiar 
and  apart  from  all  others. 

Lutheran  theology  is  the  doctrine  of  God  and  divine  things 
that  is  in  perfect  accord  with  the  Confessions  of  the  Luth- 
eran Church.  Therefore  in  defining  the  place  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  Lutheran  theology  we  need  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  vagaries  of  those  professedly  Lutheran  teachers  who  have 
wandered  from  our  Confession.  Moreover,  in  the  discussion 
of  this  subject  we  take  theology  not  in  the  sense  of  a  mere 
formal  and  technical  statement  of  the  truth  of  religion,  but  as 
that  deep  spiritual  knowledge  which  makes  wase  unto  salva- 
tion. This  we  believe  to  be  true  Lutheran  theology.  It  is 
not  mere  theory,  but  is  eminently  practical,  to  be  believed  in 
the  heart  and  preached  from  the  pulpit. 

In  setting  forth  the  doctrine  of  the  divine  Being  and  work, 
Lutheran  theology  treats  of  the  love  of  God  the  Father,  of 
the  redemption  effected  .by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  of 
the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  application  of  that  redemp- 
tion. Here  already  systems  of  theology  begin  to  diverge  in 
the  placing  of  emphasis  upon  one  of  these  rather  than  another. 
There  is  a  theology  that  has  its  center  in  God  the  Father,  in 
his  will  and  sovereignty ;  there  is  a  theology  that  finds  its 
center  in  Christ  and  the  cross ;  and  there  is  a  theology  that 
revolves  around  the  Holy  Spirit  and  his  work.  Lutheran  the- 
ology is  Christo-centric.  Christ  and  his  work  it  emphasizes 
above  all  things.  We  would  not  thereby  in  the  least  ignore 
or  dishonor  the  Father  or  the  Spirit.  We  would  simply  put 
that  first  which  God's  Word  puts  first.     In  the  New  Testa- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE,  91 

ment  benediction  it  is  the  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  that 
is  put  before  every  thing  else ;  then  the  love  of  God  the  Fath- 
er ;  and  the  last  of  all  the  communion  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  With 
Paul  Lutheran  theology  declares :  "I  determined  not  to  know 
any  thing  among  you,  save  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified." 
By  this  he  evidently  means,  not  that  it  was  his  purpose  to 
ignore  all  else,  or  to  consider  no  other  doctrines,  but  that  he 
would  view  them  all  only  in  their  relation  to  Christ  and  his 
cross. 

Lutheran  theology  regards  Christ  and  his  mediatorial  work 
the  center  and  substance  of  divine  revelation.  The  whole  plan 
of  salvation  can  be  rightly  understood  and  interpreted  only 
when  we  begin  with  Christ,  and  view  every  teaching  of  the 
Scriptures  in  the  light  of  his  redemptive  work.  It  has  been 
this  rule  that  has  guided  our  church  in  developing  and  setting 
forth  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  Holy  Spirit  vas 
sent  only  to  reveal  and  apply  the  things  of  Christ.  "The  Com- 
forter which  is  the  Holy  Ghost,  whom  the  Father  will  send  in 
my  name,  He  shall  teach  you  all  things,  and  bring  all  things 
to  your  remembrance,  whatsoever  I  have  said  unto  you." 
*'When  He,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  is  come.  He  will  guide  you  into 
all  truth ;  for  He  shall  not  speak  of  himself.  He  shall  glorify 
me ;  for  He  shall  receive  of  mine,  and  shall  show  it  unto  you." 

The  Holy  Spirit  has  not  come  into  the  world  to  speak  of 
himself,  or  to  act  for  himself,  or  in  any  sense  to 
do  an  independent  work,  but  sent  by  the  Father  and 
Son  upon  the  basis  of  what  the  Son  had  already  done.  He 
comes  to  take  up  and  carry  on  the  work  of  human  salvation 
by  applying  to  men  the  grace  of  the  Son. 

In  a  theology  that  is  Christo-centric  the  Holy  Spirit  must 
occuppy  a  place  in  proper  relation  to  Christ  and  the  atonement 
effected  by  him.  There  are  those  that  so  exalt  the  Spirit  that 
they  thereby  neglect  and  obscure  the  work  of  Christ.  They 
so  magnify  sanctification  as  to  minimize  justification.  They 
would  so  direct  attention  to  the  Spirit,  would  so  absorb  mind 
and  heart  in  the  Spirit's  work,  as  to  turn  men  away  from 
Christ,  and  thus  defeat  the  very  object  and  purpose  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  who  desires  nothing  so  much  as  to  direct  us  to  Christ. 


92  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

In  Lutheran  theolog}-  the  Holy  Spirit  occupies  no  such 
place.  In  no  way  do  we  exalt  the  Holy  Spirit  and  his  work 
in  us,  so  as  to  disparage  or  obscure  Christ's  work  for  us. 
While  in  rank  and  power  the  Spirit's  work  is  co-ordinate 
with  that  of  Christ,  yet  it  bears  the  closest  relationship  to 
Christ  and  his  work,  and  must  not  be  separated  therefrom.  The 
Holy  Spirit  sent  by  Christ,  bringing  all  the  fulness  of  Christ's 
grace,  comes  in  Christ's  name,  and  bearing  witness  of  Christ, 
He  takes  the  things  of  Christ,  and  declares  them  unto  men. 
In  the  forcible  words  of  one  of  our  own  pastors,  "The  Spirit 
comes  not  to  glorify  himself,  not  to  be  first  and  chief,  not  him- 
self to  absorb  all  thought  and  attention,  not  to  be  the  great 
and  almost  exclusive  subject  of  our  prayers  and  preachings, 
but  rather  to  turn  every  eye  and  every  heart  to  Christ." 

This,  then,  is  the  place  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  Lutheran  the- 
ology in  respect  to  his  relation  to  Christ. 

We  teach,  accordingly,  that  it  is  the  peculiar  province  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  the  work  of  human  salvation  to  bring  to  men 
and  apply  the  redemptive  work  of  Christ,  and  thereby  to  pro- 
duce faith,  and  through  faith  justification  and  all  that  accom- 
panies and  results  therefrom,  as  the  call,  illumination,  regen- 
eration and  conversion,  mystical  union,  and  renovation.  But 
in  accomplishing  his  work  He  confines  his  operations  to  the 
use  of  means,  the  means  of  God's  own  appointment. 

And  now  taking  another  aspect  of  our  subject,  we  may 
say  that  tlic  place  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  Lutheran  theology  is 
that  of  perpetual  and  unbroken  imion  zvith  the  divinely  or- 
dained means  of  grace,  the  word  and  sacraments.  Lutheran 
theology  looks  no-where  else  for  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  accom- 
plishment of  his  gracious  work  upon  the  hearts  of  men ;  and 
on  the  other  hand  it  has  the  utmost  confidence  that  the  Spirit 
will  always  be  found  in  living,  active,  efficacious  connection 
with  these  means,  "For  by  the  Word  and  Sacraments,  as  by 
instruments,  the  Holy  Spirit  is  given,"  declares  the  5th  Article 
of  our  Augsburg  Confession.  And  the  same  article  emphati- 
cally rejects  the  teaching  of  those  "who  imagine  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  given  to  men  without  the  outward  word."  The  Holy 
Spirit  in  converting  and  saving  men  operates  only  by  the  word, 
is  the  position  maintained  by  our  theologians  and  by  oiu-  Con- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  9B 

fession.  Says  Luther  in  the  Smalcald  Articles:  "We  must 
firmly  hold  that  God  grants  his  spirit  or  grace  to  no  one,  ex- 
cept through  or  with  the  preceding  outward  word."  "We 
must  constanly  maintain  that  God  docs  not  wish  to  deal  with 
us  otherwise  than  through  the  spoken  Word  and  the  sacra- 
ments, and  that  whatever  without  the  Word  and  sacraments 
is  extolled  as  spirit  is  the  devil  himself." 

Lutheran  theology  teaches  that  the  gospel  always  possesses 
divine  power  unto  salvation,  because  it  is  always  accompanied 
by  the  life-giving  Spirit.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  joined  to  the  word 
indissolubly,  and  communicates  thereto  divine  and  saving 
power.  The  word  that  we  preach  is  never  a  dead,  empty, 
powerless  word.  It  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation.  It  is 
the  word  of  the  Spirit.  "The  words  that  I  have  spoken  unto 
you  are  Spirit,  and  are  life."  The  word  and  the  Spirit  are  so 
conjoined  and  united  together  that  whatever  the  Spirit  accom- 
plishes for  the  salvation  of  men  He  accomplishes  through  the 
word,  and  whatever  effects  are  produced  by  the  word  we 
know  to  be  the  work  of  the  Spirit. 

There  are  many  who  seem  to  regard  any  use  of  or  reliance 
upon  external  means  as  not  only  unnecessary  but  in  direct  an- 
tagonism to  the  work  of  the  Spirit.  They  appear  to  be  per- 
suaded that  the  farther  they  can  get  away  from  the  means  of 
grace,  the  more  they  will  have  of  the  Spirit.  The  idea  of  the 
spiritual  must  not,  they  think,  be  associated  with  any  thing  ma- 
terial. They  therefore  put  in  opposition  things  that  belong 
together.  It  is  as  though  one  were  to  take  the  position  that 
we  are  not  nourished  and  kept  alive  by  the  bread  we  eat,  by 
the  water  we  drink,  and  by  the  air  we  breath,  but  that  our 
natural  lives  are  sustained  by  the  immediate  pov/er  and  good- 
ness of  God  alone  :  that  therefore  the  less  we  use  and  depend 
on  these  external  means,  bread,  wacer,  etc.  the  more  life  we 
V. -11  really  have  :':'d  enjov  ciirectly  fro'u  God.  Absurd  and 
foolish  as  this  may  seem,  it  is  not  more  foolish 
than  the  position  taken  by  the  opponents  of  what  they 
are  pleased  to  call  "sacramental  religion."  When  they  say 
that  it  is  not  by  baptism  that  we  are  regenerated,  but  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  or  by  the  grace  of  God,  two  things  are  put  over 


94  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

against  each  other  that  belong  together  and  are  -n  perfect 
harmony.  There  is  no  more  opposition  between  the  Holy 
Spirit  and  baptism  as  the  causes  of  salvation,  than  there  is  be- 
tween the  Holy  Spirit  and  grace.  There  is  no  more  opposition 
between  the  Holy  Spirit  who  regenerates  the  soul  and  baptism 
as  the  means  through  which  He  effects  this  gracious  work, 
than  there  is  between  the  power  of  God  which  sustains  our 
natural  life  and  the  food  through  which  He  sustains  it. 

The  place  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  Lutheran  theology,  then,  is 
something  fixed  and  definite.  He  always  accompanies  and 
works  efficaciously  in  and  through  the  means  of  God's  own 
appointment.  Wherever  these  are,  there  is  also  the  Spirit 
with  His  saving  grace.  In  the  theology  of  many  the  place  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  is  a  very  indefinite  and  uncertain  matter. 
There  can  be  no  assurance  that  any  gracious  work  of  the 
the  Spirit  will  attend  the  means.  He  may  accompany  the  word 
and  sacraments  with  his  grace  and  power,  and  He  may  ncH — 
most  probably  not. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  position  of  many,  we  quote  a  sen- 
tence or  two  from  a  sermon  on  the  Holy  Spirit  recently  preacli- 
ed  by  a  prominent  divine  and  teacher  of  theology  of  anothef 
faith.  In  speaking  of  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  regener- 
ation he  says :  "I  am  no  sacramentarian.  I  do  not  believe  in 
the  changing  efficacy  of  the  sprinkled  water  or  of  the  spoken 
formula;  but  I  know  of  no  reason  in  Scripture,  or  in  exper- 
ience, or  in  science  why  we  may  not  believe  that  the  gracious 
Spirit,  in  many  cases,  performs  that  mysterious  work  (regen- 
eration) in  the  soul  of  the  infant  when  the  water  of  baptism 
is  applied." 

To  Lutherans  this  is  indeed  a  very  strange  and  remarkable 
statement,'  not  only  unscriptural,  but  altogether  inadequate 
and  unsatisfactory.  Yet  much  of  the  theology  of  our  land 
and  age  can  not  get  beyond  this.  It  asserts  very  positively, 
'T  do  not  believe  in  the  saving  efficacy  of  baptism."  yet  it  ven- 
tures to  say  that  the  Holy  Spirit  may  effect  regeneration  at 
the  same  time  with  the  act  of  baptism ;  but  baptism  itself  has 
nothing  whatever  to  do  with  it,  and  can  give  no  assurance  that 
any  gracious  work  of  the  Spirit  accompanies  it.  This  theology 
hazards  the  statement  that  there  is  no  very  strong  reason  in 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  95 

Scripture,  or  in  experience,  or  in  science  why  we  may  not  be- 
lieve at  least  this  much,  that  regeneration  may  occur  co-inci- 
dent with  the  appHcation  of  the  water  in  infant  baptism,  "in 
many  cases."  "In  many  cases,"  but  not  in  all,  "In  many  cases" 
the  Holy  Spirit  happens  to  fulfill  his  promise ;  "in  many  cases" 
He  is  true  to  his  word,  incidentally,  but  in  any  particular  case 
we  can  not  be  sure,  and  dare  not  venture  on  the  word  of 
promise  coni^^cted  with  baptism.  Certainty  can  come,  says  this 
theology,  only  through  the  inner  experiences  of  heart  and 
emotion.  It  looks  to  results  only,  to  impressions  and  feelings, 
to  indicate  the  presence  and  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Here  again  our  Lutheran  theology  takes  issue.  While  we 
would  by  no  means  limit  the  grace  and  power  of  the  Spirit,  we 
can  be  sure  of  his  presence  and  work  only  in  the  use  of  the 
word  and  sacraments,  "Only  then  can  we  consider  an  effect 
as  certainly  produced  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  when  it  is  brought  to 
pass  through  these  external  means,"  is  the  position  of  Luther- 
an theology  on  this  point.  "For,"  says  our  Confession,  "we 
should  not  and  can  not  always  judge,  from  our  feelings,  of 
the  presence,  operations,  and  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  but  in- 
as  much  as  these  are  often  cloaked  in  much  infirmity,  we 
should  be  convinced,  from  the  promise,  that  the  word  of  God 
preached  and  heard  is  assuredly  the  ministry  and  instrument 
of  the  Spirit,  by  which  He  truly  and  efficaciously  operates  in 
•our  hearts." 

Lutherans  have  no  confidence  in  the  flesh,  or  in  any  exper- 
ience of  mere  feeling  or  emotion.  We  look  with  suspicion 
upon  the  genuineness  of  that  Christianity  which  says,  "I  have 
experienced  certain  feelings !  therefore  the  work  of  the  Spirit 
has  been  effected  in  my  heart.  I  have  been  born  again,  and 
am  a  child  of  God."  The  true  Lutheran  says,  "I  have  been 
baptized.  Through  baptism  God's  grace  and  Spirit  have  come 
to  me;  for  baptism  is  "the  washing  of  regeneration  and  re- 
newing of  the  Holy  Ghost."  God  has  thereby  signified  his 
acceptance  of  me,  a  poor  sinner,  and  has  received  me  into 
his  love  and  favor.    Therefore  I  am  a  child  of  God." 

Even  among  those  who  belong  to  the  school  of  subjectiveism 
there  has  been  of  late  years,  a  decided  reaction  against  mere 
emotionalism   in   religion.      From   a   prominent   preacher   and 


96  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

teacher  of  this  class  I  quote  a  few  sentences  that  serve  to  show 
this,  and  at  the  same  time  corroborate  the  position  of  our 
church. 

"We  are  just  a  Httle  suspicious  of  that  Christian  who  car- 
ries his  most  sacred  spiritual  experiences  on  his  coat-sleeve, 
and  who  is  always  ready  to  testify,  not  from  the  Word  of  God, 
but  from  his  own  experience.  'The  testimony  of  J:he  Lord  is 
sure,  making  wise  the  simple.'  If  you  could  tell  me  with  vivid 
and  microscopic  detail  all  about  your  own  regeneration,  I 
should  really  begin  to  doubt  whether  you  had  ever  been  regen- 
erated." "We  should  be  careful  to  give  experience  its  proper 
place  and  to  fix  upon  it  its  true  valuation.  We  are  somewliat 
in  danger  in  these  times  of  selling  out  to  mere  experience.  A 
single  ounce  of  God's  Word  is  worth  more  than  a  hundred- 
weight of  man's  experience."  To  all  this  we  Lutherans  say 
amen  with  emphasis. 

There  is  yet  another  feature  of  our  subject  that  perhaps 
merits  consideration.  Has  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
received  altogether  adequate  treatment  in  Lutheran  theology? 
Has  there  not  been  a  grave  omission,  in  no  place  has  been 
given  to  the  consideration  of  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
empowering  and  equipping  men  for  service  in  the  church? 
This  is  a  question  that  should  receive  attention,  especially  in 
our  age.  which  has  been  called  the  age  of  the  Spirit.  Whatever 
we  may  think  of  the  importance  of  this  matter,  the  theology 
of  our  church  has  given  it  no  consideration. 

Luther  indeed  speaks  of  a  special  blessing  which  accom- 
panies the  exercise  of  the  office  of  preaching  by  men  properly 
called  to  it ;  but  he  ascribes  this  special  blessing  to  the  posses- 
sion and  certainty  of  their  divine  calling,  which  is  assured  to 
them  through  the  outward  call  and  through  the  confirmation 
of  that  call  in  ordination.  It  is  true  also  that  our  theologians 
speak  of  the  grace  of  ordination,  and  say  that  the  gifts  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  necessary  for  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  the 
ministry,  are  conferred  and  increased  therein  through  the 
prayers  of  the  Church ;  yet  it  is  clear  that  they  do  not  regard 
this  as  occurring  by  means  of  some  special  baptism  of  the 
Spirit.     Lutheran  theology  has  no  place  for  a  second  blessing 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  97 

or  Pentecostal  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit  since  the  days 
of  the  apostles,  either  to  bring  men  into  a  state  of  sinless  per- 
fection, or  to  bestow  some  distinct  and  special  endowment 
for  the  work  of  the  church.  Nowhere  in  our  theology  is 
found  the  notion  that  there  is  one  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  that 
effects  regeneration  and  another  and  distinct  gift  that  con- 
fers power  for  service.  Nowhere  is  found  the  vain  dream  that 
by  some  special  act  of  preparation  or  consecration  on  our 
part  we  fit  ourselves  to  receive  this  Pentecostal  blessing,  the 
baptism  and  infilling  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Very  distinctly  and' 
emphatically  does  our  Confession  reject  the  erroneous  teach- 
ing of  those  "who  imagine  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  given  to 
men  ....  through  their  own  preparations  and  works." 
The  theologians  of  our  church  evidently  regard  the  special 
gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  apostolic  days  as  providing  for 
a  special  need  of  that  time.  The  New  Testament  was  then 
unwritten.  It  was  necessary,  therefore,  that  every  teacher 
have  the  gift  of  inspiration,  and  that  the  possession  of  this  gift 
be  confirmed  by  signs  and  miracles. 

In  the  judgment  of  our  teachers  no  further  divine  power  is 
promised  in  the  Bible,  or  is  necessary  for  the  work  of  the 
church  than  that  which  every  Christian  may  have  through 
faith  in  the  word  ;  and  moreover  that  every  believer  possesses 
this  power  precisely  in  proportion  to  the  strength  of  his  faith 
and  his  knowledge  of  the  truth,  without  any  special  outpour- 
ing or  infilling  of  the  Spirit.  The  expression,  "filled  "with  the 
Spirit,"  is  not  descriptive  of  some  extraordinary  power  or  en- 
richment, but  is  the  prerogative  alike  of  all  believers.  In  the 
words  of  a  great  preacher  of  another  faith :  "This  state  of 
'being  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost'  is  not  regarded  by  the  writ- 
er of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  as  necessarily  carrying  with  it 
the  power  of  working  miracles,  or  any  other  supernatural  en- 
dowment, nor  is  it  confined  to  the  aristocracy  of  the  Church, 
but  it  belongs  to  all."  "Filled  with  the  Spirit."  There  is  but 
one  way  to  be  filled,  and  that  is  to  be  filled  with  the  word  of 
the  Spirit.  We  receive  the  Spirit  through  the  hearing  of 
faith ;  we  minister  the   Spirit  through  the  hearing  of  faith. 


98  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

What  we  need,  then,  to  make  us  efficient  workers  in  Christ's 
service  is  God's  Word  and  absolute,  unwavering  faith  in  that 
word.  Having  these,  we  have  all  the  spiritual  endowment  prom- 
ised ;  we  have  all  the  divine  equipment  we  need ;  we  have  all 
the  power  of  the  Spirit  that  God  bestows  upon  his  ministering 
servants,  making  our  ministry  ''mighty  through  God  to  the 
pulling  down  of  strongholds." 

This,  then  in  brief,  is  the  dostrine  of  the  Holy  Sprit  in 
Lutheran  theology — a  doctrine  full  of  divine  assurance  and 
comfort  to  the  Christian  heart.  It  is  a  doctrine,  too,  that 
should  give  confidence  and  encouragement  to  every  faithful 
Christian  teacher.  The  gospel  we  preach  is  not  an  empty 
vessel  or  a  dead  letter.  We  can  be  sure  the  ministry  of  the 
word  is  the  ministry  of  the  Spirit.  "For  our  gospel  came  not 
unto  you  in  word  only,  but  also  in  power,  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  in  much  assurance,"  Lutheran  preachers  proclaim  their 
message  with  all  confidence,  firmly  believing  that  the  Holy 
Spirit,  according  to  the  divine  promise,  will  surely  accompany 
his  word,  and  work  through  it  eflfectually  to  the  conversion 
of  sinners  and  the  edification  of  believers. 


REMARKS. 


The  Rev.  Dr.  Jacobs  commended  the  paper  for  its  thorough 
presentation  of  the  subject.  The  passage  Dr.  Moser  cited 
from  a  Reformed  clergyn^an  came  ultimately  from  Calvin 
himself.  In  his  "Institutes."  (Book  IV  :  XVII  39.)  he 
severely  arraigns  those  who  deny  the  possibility  of  Baptismal 
Regeneration.  Although  he  cannot  conceive  how  regeneration 
occurs  through  Baptism,  he  maintains  that  it  may  occur  at 
Baptism.  The  entire  tendency  of  the  Reformed  Church  is  to 
deny  the  activity  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  and  through  means. 
The  Spirit  is  regarded  as  working  cotemparaneously  with 
their  use,  and  alongside  of,  but  not  through  them.  In  his 
Ratio  Fidei,  sent  to  Augsburg,  Zwingli  explicitly  declares  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  employs  no  means  for  his  operations.  The 
Spirit  brings  means,  but  no  means  bring  or  carry  the  Spirit. 
According  to  the  Calvinistic  and  Zwinglian  conception.  Means 
of  Grace  are  instrumentalities  by  which  man  applies  himself 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  99 

to  grace ;  while  according  to  the  Lutheran  conception,  they 
are  the  divinely  ordained  institutions  through  which  God 
communicates  himself  to  man.  According  to  the  Reformed, 
they  are  from  man  Godward ;  according  to  Lutheran  doctrine 
they  are  from  God  manward. 

The  Reformed  have  charged  the  Lutheran  Church  with  in- 
difference to  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Prof.  Smeaton 
of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  in  a  very  scholarly  monograph 
on  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  maintains  that  it  was  entirely 
neglected  in  Lutheran  Theology  until  the  Pietistic  controversy 
gave  occasion  for  its  more  ample  treatment ;  and  that,  owing 
to  this  neglect.  Lutheranism  lapsed  into  Formalism.  Dead  Or- 
thodoxy, etc.  I'nfortunately  for  his  theory,  the  Golden  Age 
of  Lutheranism  in  Germany  was  long  before  the  period  which 
he  claims  for  the  introduction  of  this  doctrine.  So  Dr.Kuyper, 
the  present  prime  minister  of  Holland,  in  his  lately  published 
monograph  claims  that  Calvin  was  the  disco\erer  of  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Holy  Spirit !  We  need  only  refer  to  the  outline 
of  the  entire  subject  in  Luther's  explanation  of  the  Third  Article 
of  the  creed,  with  which  all  here  are  familiar. 


The  Dr.  Richard  said  in  substance : — 

The  person  and  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  by  no  means 
ignored  in  the  Lutheran  system.  Luther's  Commentary  on 
Galatians  is  filled  with  the  spirit  of  the  spirit.  Every  Lutheran 
confession  recognizes  the  spirit's  activity  in  connection  with 
the  means  of  grace.  Yet  it  is  true — and  it  is  to  be  lamented 
because  it  is  true — that  no  Lutheran  confessiion  contains  an 
article'  De  Spiritii  sancto.  Lutherans  have  given  more  atten- 
tion to  the  acquisition  of  redemption — to  the  person  and  work 
of  Christ — than  they  have  to  the  application  of  redemption — 
the  doctrine  of  the  person  and  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The 
Lutheran  dogmaticians  have  treated  the  doctrine  of  the  Spirit 
too  abstractly.  They  have  not  sufficiently  magnified  his  prac- 
t^'cal  relations  to  the  Church  and  to  the  individual.  One  great 
need  of  the  Lutheran  Church  today  is  a  thorough  work  on 
the  Holy  Spirit.  Such  a  work  should  be  both  doctrinal  and 
practical.     If  this  Conference  should  be  the  cause  or  occasion 


100  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

of  the  production  of  the  desiderated  work,  its    holding    will 
prove  a  great  benefit  to  the  Church. 


THE   LUTHERAN   DOCTRINE  OF  THE   SACRA- 
MENTS. 

By  the  Rev.  L.  E.  Busby,  D.  D. 

The  importance  of  this  subject  is  distinctly  marked  by  its 
position  on  the  program — between  the  discussion  of  "The 
Place  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  Lutheran  Theology"  and  "Chris- 
tian Liberty  and  its  Limitations" — the  former  as  bearing  on 
the  right  intention  of  the  Sacraments  on  the  divine  side ;  the 
latter,  the  result,  internal  and  external,  of  such  use,  on  the 
human  side. 

The  means  and  method  of  Redemption  on  the  one  hand, 
and  of  Sanctification  on  the  other,  must  point  to  the  all-im- 
portant Doctrine  of  the  Sacraments.  Hence  the  essential 
need  of  right  teaching  and  views  on  the  subject  of  this  paper. 

For  the  sake  of  brevity  and  accuracy  we  shall  do  little  more 
than  compile  and  set  in  order  the  teachings  of  our  profound 
thinkers  as  the  most  satisfactory  presentation  of  the  subject. 

By  Doctrine  we  are  to  understand  the  principles  and  divine- 
ly revealed  truths  given  by  God  through  His  Word,  and  which 
form  the  basis  of  Christian  teaching.  Dr.  Weidner  defines 
doctrine  to  be  "a  truth  of  faith,  derived  from  the  revealed 
Word,  and  taught  as  a  positive  truth  on  the  authority  of  that 
Word."  When  such  truth  of  faith  stands  as  the  exponent  of 
the  Church  we  speak  of  Church  Doctrine.  Dogma  and  Doc- 
trine are  not  synonymous ;  the  former  embracing,  as  Dr.  Ja- 
cobs states,  "a  definition  of  the  latter."  Dogma  is  so  often 
used  in  an  unfavorable  sense  as  not  to  be  used  in  this  discus- 
sion— of  our  teachings. 

By  "The  Lutheran  Doctrine  of  the  Sacraments"  we  mean 
the  revealed  truths  of  God's  Word  in  regard  to  Baptism  and 
the  Lord's  Supper — the  only  sacraments  strictly  marked  in 
Holy  Scripture — and  those  truths  as  set  forth  in  our  con- 
fessions. 

By  the  term  "Sacrament"  we  mean  "a  holy  rite  or  act  in- 
stituted of  God,  consisting  of  an  earthly  or  external  element  or 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  101 

sign,  and  of  a  heavenly  element;  by  which  rite  or  act  God  not 
only  seals  the  promise  of  grace,  viz :  the  forgiveness  of  sins, 
but  also  through  the  elements  truly  imparts  to  every  one,  who 
partakes  of  the  sacraments,  heavenly  passessions,  according  to 
the  divine  Word  and  promise."  (Hutter,  p.  164.) 

I.      BAPTISM. 

The  Lutheran  Doctrine  of  Baptism  is  stated  in  Augsburg 
Confession,  Art.  IX. ;  Apology,  Art.  IX. ;  Large  and  Small 
Catechisms  Part  IV.;  Smalcald  Articles.  Part  III.,  Art.  V. ; 
Formula  of  Concord,  Ep.  Chap.  XII.,  etc. 

Article  IX.  of  the  Augsburg  Confession  says : 

"Of  Baptism  they  teach,  that  it  is  necessary  to  salvation,  and 
that  by  Baptism  the  grace  of  God  is  offered,  and  that  children 
are  to  be  baptized,  who  by  Baptism,  being  offered  to  God  are 
received  into   God's   favor. 

"They  condemn  the  Anabaptists  who  allow  not  the  Baptism 
of  children,  and  affirm  that  children  are  saved  without  Bap- 
tism." 

The  Scripture  basis  of  this  teaching  is  found  in  Matt.  28 : 
19,  20;  Mark  16:16. 

We  define  Christian  Baptism  to  be  "that  sacrament  or  rite, 
instituted  by  Christ,  through  which  those  who  do  not  resist 
the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  are  born  again  into  a  new  life." 
(John  3:5.  Col.  2:  12.  13;  Tit.  3:5)  ;  brought  into  fellowship 
wnth  Christ  (Rom.  6:3-5  ^  Gal.  3:27)  ;  and  His  church  (I.  Cor. 
12:13)  ;  and  made  partakers  of  eternal  life,  (Tit.  3:5;  I.  Pet. 
3:21). 

The  earthly  clement  in  Baptism  is  "not  mere  water,  but  that 
water  which  is  comprehended  in  God's  command,  and  connect- 
ed with  God's  Word"— (Small  Cat.) 

The  heaz'eiily  element  "object  is  the  Holy  Trinity:  and  the 
bciicfits  of  Baptism  are :  "it  causes  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  de- 
livers from  death  and  the  devil,  and  gives  everlasting  salva- 
rion  to  all  who  believe  it  as  the  words  and  promise  of  God  de- 
clare;" or  as  Augsburg  Confession,  (Art.  V..  2.)  says.  Bap- 
tism is  a  direct  instrument  of  grace,  "for  through  the  Word 
and  Sacraments,  the  Holy  Spirit  is  given,  who  worketh  faith, 
where  and  when  it  pleaseth  God,"  i.  e.  in  those  who  do  not  re- 


102  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

ject  the  grace  of  the  Spirit  which  is  offered  in  Baptism. 

The  Lutheran  Church,  therefore,  rejects  (i)  the  view  that 
Baptism  is  not  necessary  because  the  Holy  Spirit  is  given  im- 
mediately and  directly,  without  the  external  Word  and  Sac- 
ments ,  (2)  the  view  that  Baptism  is  sinioly  an  initiation-cere- 
mony into  external  church  membership;  (3)  the  view  that 
Baptism  is  primarily  the  act  of  the  convert,  who  thus  makes  a 
profession  of  regeneration  which  has  already  taken  ]>lace  in 
him,  and  therefore  there  is  a  rejection  of  Infant  Baptism,  and 
an  admission  to  Baptism  of  those  only  who  give  evidence  of 
being  really  regenerated;  (4)  the  view  that  Baptism  is  only  a 
sign  and  seal  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  but  not  a  direct  instru- 
ment of  grace.     (Luth.  Cyc.  Baptism.) 

We  attach  great  significance  to  Baptism  because  of  what 
God's  Word  declares  and  commands. 

The  Apostolic  teaching  in  regard  to  its  significance  is  clear- 
ly set  forth  by  Dr.  Weidner  in  Lutheran  Cyclopedia,  page  39. 

The  initiative  method  and  plan  of  induction  into  God's 
Kingdom  is.  therefore.  Baptism,  and  to  this  the  church  is 
bound  by  the  positive  command  of  Christ.  (Matt.  28:19; 
Mark  16:16). 

We,  however,  make  a  distinction  between  ''necessary  to 
Salvation"  and  "essential  to  salvation."  "We  hold  that  this 
necessity,  though  absolute  as  regards  the  work  of  the  Spirit, 
is,  as  regards  the  outward  part  of  Baptism  (i.  e.  the  use  of 
water),  ordinary,  not  absolute,  or  without  exception;  that  the 
contempt,  not  the  zvant,  of  the  sacrament  condemns ;  and  that, 
though  God  binds  us  to  His  means.  He  does  not  bind  His  own 
mercy  by  them.  (Krauth,  C.  R.,  p.  129:  Gerhard  IX,  282: 
Hollazius,  1098,  etc.) 

Upon  this  consensus  of  belief  the  Lutheran  Church  main- 
tains the  salvability  of  infants  dying  unbaptized. 

We  reject  that  unscriptural  teaching  that  unbaptized  in- 
fants are  saved  on  the  ground  of  personal  innocence:  but 
"that,  as  corrupt  by  nature,  that  nature  must  be  changed  b}-  the 
Holy  Spirit  through  the  application  of  Christ's  redemptory 
work,  of  which  Baptism  is  the  ordinary  channel"  (A.  C.  Arts, 
IX  and  II ;  Krauth,  C.  R.  p.  129.) 

The  infant,  as  well  as  the  adult,  is  a  proper  subject  of  Bap- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  103 

tism,  as  seen  by  comparing  John  3:5  and  Mark  10:14.  Hence 
we  teach:  "It  is  very  certain,  that  the  promise  of  salvation  per- 
tains also  to  little  children,  for  the  divine  promises  of  grace 
and  of  the  Holy  Spirit  belong  not  alone  to  the  old,  but  also 
to  children  .  .  .  Because  salvation  is  offered  to  all,  to  men, 
women,  children,  and  infants,"  (Apol.  IX.,  52),  and  "children 
and  infants  ought  to  be  baptized,  for  they  belong  to  the  prom- 
ised redemption  made  through  Christ,  and  the  Church  should 
administer  it  to  them."     (Smal.  Art.,  III.;  V.,  4). 

Some  of  the  reasons  for  Infant  Baptism  were  as  follows : 

1.  Christ  commanded  "all  nations"  to  be  baptized,  and 
therefore  infants,  (Matt  28:19). 

2.  The  Kingdom  of  Christ  is  found  only  where  the  Word 
and  Sacraments  are  found,  (John  3:5). 

3.  The  promise  of  salvation  belongs  to  children,  (Matt. 
19:14;  Mark  10:14;  Matt.  18:10,  14). 

4.  God  has  for  all  the  centuries  guthercd  c  ngregations 
through  whom  He  extends  and  perpetuates  the  faith. 

5.  The  analogy  between  circumcision  and  baptism,  (Col. 
2:12;  cf.  Apol.  Art.  IV.,  and  Large  Catechism). 

6.  Whole  families  in  the  primitive  church  were  baptized, 
therefore,  presumably  children,  (Acts  16:15,  33;  18:8;  i  Cor. 
1:16). 

7.  The  whole  church  is  to  be  cleansed  by  baptism,  (Eph. 
5:26);  therefore,  infants  who  are  unclean  by  nature,  are  to 
be  cleansed  in  the  Scripturally-appointed  way. 

Other  convincing  reasons  might  be  given : 

Opponents  of  Infant  Baptism  object  on  the  groimd  that 
"the  Sacrament  of  Baptism  is  no  advantage  without  faith;  and 
as  infants  have  no  faith,  the  sacr.-iment  should,  therefore,  not 
be  administered  to  them." 

In  answer  to  such  objection  the  Augsburg  Confession  Ar- 
ticle v.,  2,  says:  "Through  the  Word  and  .Sacraments  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  given,  Who  worketh  faith  where  and  when  it 
pleaseth  God."  We,  therefore,  have  no  right  to  limit  the  pow- 
er and  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit  by  our  limited  concep- 
tion of  that  power.  Faith  as  a  divinely-wrought  condition  of 
the  soul  may  exist,  though  there  may  be  no  outward  >'esponse 
or  expression  of  it. 


104  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

We  believe,  therefore,  "that  the  Holy  Ghost,  with  liis  gifts, 
is  brought  through  Baptism  to  the  individual ;  and  that,  as 
faith  is  the  gift  of  God,  (Eph.  2:28),  and  is  offered  and  seal- 
ed to  the  unresisting  heart  through  the  appointed  means, 
therefore  that  gift  is  actually  conferred,  and  there  is  wrought 
a  receptivity  of  grace,  or  receptive  faith.  "Such  an  inzi'rought 
condition  in  the  infant,"  says  Dr.  VVeidner.  "is  not  an  acting 
in  I'.s  part,  but  an  internal,  yml,  .lU'l  etfcctr.'e  U'^itiiig  with 
Christ,  by  which  the  Holy  Spirit  makes  it  a  partaker  of  Christ 
by  means  of  His  Word  and  Sacrament."  Dr.  Krauth,  (C.  R. 
p.  580)  says:  "This  divinely  wrought  con<lition  we  call  rc- 
ceptive  faith,  and  though  its  phenomena  are  suspended,  it  is 
really  faith,  and  as  really  invovles  what  is  essential  to  justi- 
fication as  does  the  faith  of  the  adult.  There  is  no  justifying 
merit  in  faith  as  an  act,  nor  is  there  any  in  the  acts  it  origi- 
nates." 

Quenstedt  (IV.,  153)  notes  the  distinction  between  "the 
primary  and  immediate  act  or  operation  of  justifying  faith,  and 
the  secondary  and  mcdiife  operation"  •  defining  the  former 
as  that  "by  which  it  reposes  m  Cpri^t  the  mediator,  and  ap- 
prehends His  benefits  by  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit;" 
and  this  he  calls,  the  internal  and  formal  faith  which  he  at- 
tributes to  children.  The  latter  is  "that  by  which  faith  is 
drawn  out  externally,  etc,  which  we  deny  in  infants." 

Chemnitz  (Loc.  c.  th.  HI.,  160)  says:  "We  by  no  means 
grant  that  infants  who  are  baptized  are  either  without  faith  or 
are  baptized  on  the  faith  of  others  .  .  .  For  Baptism  is  the 
laver  of  regeneration  and  the  renewal  of  the  Holy  Spirit  who 
is  poured  out  upon  those  baptized,  that,  being  justified,  they 
may  become  heirs  of  eternal  Hfe,  Tit.  3:5;  Matt.  10:15;  and 
this  is  called  the  faith  of  infants." 

Krauth  (C.  R.  578,  579)  says:  "When  we  say  that  infants 
believe  of  have  faith,  it  is  not  meant  that  they  understand,  or 
have  consciousness  of  faith ;  but  the  error  is  rejected  that  bap- 
tized infants  are  pleasing  to  God,  and  are  saved,  without  any 
action  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  them  .  .  .  The  Holy  Spirit  op- 
erates in  them  in  His  own  way.  which  it  is  not  in  our  power 
to  explain.  That  operation  of  the  Spirit  in  infants  we  call 
faith  and  v\  e  affirm  that  they  believe.      .    .    .    Faith  as  an  act, 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  IQS 

like  sin  as  an  act,  presupposes  a  condition  of  mind,  which  con- 
dition is  the  essential  thing  in  both  cases,  to  which  the  act  is 
merely  phenomenal." 

We  might  also  quote  many  others.  In  adult  Baptism  a  con- 
scious and  cordial  assent  of  the  will  is  essential  to  the  salu^ 
tary  effect  of  this  sacrament.  Hence,  Christ  says — speaking 
of  adults — "He  that  bclieveth,  and  is  baptized,  shall  be  saved," 
Mark  i6:  i6. 

We  reject  the  Romish  dogma  "opus  operatum,"  i.  e.  that 
saving  grace  is  conferred  "by  virtue  of  the  mere  sacramental 
action,  so  that  personal  faith  is  excluded  by  the  efficiency  of 
sacramental  grace."  Although  Baptism  when  properly  per- 
formed, and  as  arranged  on  the  divine  side,  is  in  itself  a  per- 
fect and  complete  vehicle  of  saving  grace,  yet  the  offered  grace 
cannot  become  effective  and  beneficial  in  the  case  of  adults 
without  the  personal  faith  of  the  applicant.  We,  therefore, 
discriminate  between  the  substance  and  the  fruits  of  faith. 
(See  small  Cat.  Schmid,  p.  550.) 

The  Holy  Spirit  through  the  Word  must  bring  repentance 
and  faith  to  the  adult  who  has  actually  transgressed  God's 
law,  and  the  Spirit  must  make  these  real  and  effective  before 
he  can  be  engrafted  into  Christ,  have  fellowship  with  Him,  and 
receive  the  seal  and  assurance  of  forgiveness.  Baptism,  as 
we  learn  from  Rom.  6:  3,  4,  is  the  appointed  means  of  saving- 
union  with  Christ,  and  such  union  is  formed,  provided  the  hu- 
man will,  capable  of  resisting  the  Diyine  will,  is  brought  into 
a  humble  submission  to  the  Holy  Spirit  so  as  not  to  reject  a 
hearty  acceptance  of  the  offered  grace. 

"Adults  may,  by  actual  impenitence,  hypocrisy,  and  ob- 
stinacy, deprive  themselves  of  the  salutary  effect  of  Baptism." 
(Gerhard  IX.,  170). 

As  to  the  mode  or  manner  of  applying  Baptism  the  Luther- 
an Church  mantains  that  water  is  the  prescribed  earthly  ele- 
ment, in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Trinity :  but  that  validity  of  the 
Sacrament  depends  neither  upon  the  quanity  of  zvater  nor 
tipon  the  external  mode  of  its  application. 

The  undue  prominence  given  to  mode  in  our  day  did  not  ob- 
tian  in  the  days  of  the  Reformation.     Consequently,  we  have 


106  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

no  fornuilated  article  on  mode  in  Baptism.  Luther  and  our 
Confessors  do  not  regard  immersion  as  a  neccesary  mode. 
The  Large  Catechism  expressly  recognizes  pouring  as  a  pre- 
ferable mode,  because  clearly  taught  in  God's  Word,  estab- 
lished and  blessed  by  long  usage,  and  as  fully  comporting  with 
the  command  "let  all  things  he  done  decently  and  in  order" 
(i  Cor..  14:40). 

From  every  fair  exegesis  of  Scripture  passages  on  the  sub- 
ject of  Baptism,  the  etymological  study  and  usage  of  the  Greek 
word  translated  "Baptize,"  the  practice  of  the  Church  for  alt 
these  Christian  ages,  and  the  writings  of  theologians,  we  are 
forced  to  conclude  that  the  claim  that  immersion  is  the  only 
Scripture  mode  is  unwarranted. 


II.  THE  LORD  S  SUPPER. 

In  Baptism  the  spiritual  life  is  begun ;  in  the  Lord's  Supper 
that  life  is  sustained  and  dez^eloped.  Hence  the  need  of  the 
constant  use  of  the  Supper  by  the  individual. 

The  Lutheran  Doctrine  of  the  Lord's  Supper  is  found  in  the 
Augsburg  Confession,  Articles  X.,  XXIL,  XXIV.;  Apology, 
same  Articles ;  Formula  of  Concord,  Chap.  VII ;  and  in  the  two 
Catchisms,  Part  V. 

Article  X  of  the  Confession  reads : 

Of  the  Supper  of  the  Lord  they  teach  that  the  true  body  and 
blood  of  Christ  are  truly  present  (under  the  form  of  bread 
and  wine),  and  are  (there)  communicated  to  those  that  eat 
in  the  Lord's  Supper  (and  received). 

And  they  disapprove  of  those  that  teach  otherwise,  (where- 
fore also  the  opposite  doctrine  is  rejected.") 

The  Formula  of  Concord.  Epitome  and  Solid  Declaration, 
Part  II.,  Chaps.  VII  and  VIII..  affirm : 

"With  the  consecrated  or  blessed  bread  and  wine  the  com- 
municants receive  the  Lord's  body  and  blood.  It  is  that  body 
which  is  given  for  you." 

The  Catechisms,  Part  V.,  says : 

"It  (the  Sacrament  of  the  Altar)  is  the  true  body  and  blood 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  and  under  the  bread  and  wine 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  107 

which  we  Christians  are  commanded  by  the  Word  of  Christ 
to  eat  and  to  drink." 

The  Scripture  basis  for  this  teaching  is  found  in  Matt.  26: 
26-28;  Mark   14:22-24;  Luke  22:19,  20;   i    Cor.    10:16;    11: 

23-25- 

The  question  at  issue  when  the  Confession  was  formulated 
was. as  to  the  kind  of  interpretation  that  should  be  applied  to 
the  words  of  institution.  Two  methods  were  used,  to  wit :  The 
Literal  and  the  Figurative. 

The  Lutheran  Church  has  always  maintained  that  the  words 
should  be  understood  in  a  real  and  literal  sense.  Form  of  Con- 
cord, Epit.,  Art.  VIL,  says : 

"We  believe,  teach,  and  confess,  that  the  words  of  the  Testa- 
ment of  Christ  are  not  otherwise  to  be  understood  than  in  a 
literal  sense,  so  that  the  thread  does  not  signify  the"  absent  body 
of  Christ,  nor  the  wine  the  absent  blood,  but  that  it  is  truly,  be- 
cause of  the  sacramental  union,  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ." 
Hence,  "not  the  elements  alone,  but  the  elements  sacramentally 
with  the  heavenly  matter,  and  essentially  present,  compose  the 
sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  on  earth."  We  believe  when 
Christ  used  the  words,  "Take  eat,  this  is  my  body ;  take,  drink, 
this  is  my  blood,"  He  used  words  that  most  clearly,  literally, 
and  emphatically  conveyed  His  very  meaning.  The  spiritualiz- 
ing process  of  the  Sacramentarians  of  Luther's  day  made  it 
necessary  safely  to  guard  this  literal  teaching  of  Christ.  The 
necessity  is  no  less  great  in  this  day. 

St.  Paul  (i  Cor.  io:i6)  asks:  "The  cup  of  blessing  which 
we  bless,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  blood  of  Christ?  The 
bread  which  we  break,  is  it  not  the  eommnnion  of  the  body  of 
Christ?" — in  which  language  there  is  clearly  indicated  both 
the  earthly  and  heavenly  elements  of  the  Supper.  In  i  Cor.  11 : 
29  the  apostle  gives  this  warning:  "For  he  that  eateth  and 
drinketh  unworthily,  eateth  and  drinketh  damnation  to  him- 
self, not  discerning  the  Lord's  body:"  and  this  was  the  con- 
cluding declaration  that  followed  verse  27,  in  which  he  says: 
"Whosoever  shall  eat  of  this  bread,  and  drink  of  this  cup  of 
the  Lord,  unworthily,  shall  be  guilty  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
the  Lord." 


108  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

The  Lord's  Supper  is,  therefore,  not  a  mere  sign  or  emblem, 
but  that  through  which  Christ  is  really  and  truly  imparted  to 
the  communicant. 

As  in  Baptism,  so  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  integrity  of  the 
Sacrament  is  not  marred  or  Vitiated  b}-  the  spiritual  condition 
of  the  administrator  or  the  applicant;  yet,  in  order  that  the 
Supper  may  be  of  real  benefit  to  the  communicant  he  must  re- 
ceive it  in  faith.  Otherwise  he  will  not  "discern  the  Lord's 
body,"  and  the  sacrament  will  be  a  condemnation. 

Schmid  (558)  says:  "When  we  speak,  however,  of  the 
bread  and  wine,  we  undertsand  real  and  true  bread  and  wine, 
as  we  also  by  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  mean  the  real  and 
true  body  and  the  real  and  tr%ie  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  He 
possesses  both  since  His  glorification.  And  as  the  bread  and 
wine,  so  also  this  body  and  this  blood  of  Christ  are  really  and 
truly  present."  As  we  really  and  truly  partake  of  the  bread 
and  wine,  so  we  really  and  truly  partake  of  the  body  and  blood 
of  Christ ;  so  that,  in  both  cases,  the  participation  is  not  meta- 
phorical, but  literal. 

The  Lutheran  doctrine  is  known  as  the  doctrine  of  the  Real 
Presence,  carefully  discriminating  between  the  presence  of  the 
spiritual,  glorified  body  of  Christ  and  the  spiritual  presence  of 
the  body  of  Christ. 

Theologians  have  drawn  out  the  important  distinction  be- 
tween oral  manducation  and  spiritual  niandncatioii.  Tb.e  for- 
mer because  it  occurs  only  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  is  called  Sac- 
raviicntal. 

It  is  true  that,  because  of  a  lack  of  faith,  the  communicant 
may  partake  orally  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  zvithout 
spiritual  benefit;  ^vhile  in  spiritual  uianducation  there  is  a 
hearty  appropriation  of  Christ  and  a  reception  of  the  benefits 
of  t]ie  mercy  and  grace  of  God.  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  right- 
eousness, and  eternal  life.  The  chief  thing  in  the  Sacrament, 
as  the  catechism  declares,  "is  the  forgiveness  of  sins." 

The  term  "Sacramental  eating"  as  held  by  the  Lutheran 
Church  is  quite  diflferent  from  that  held  by  the  Calvinists. 
Gerhard  (X..  303)  says:  "The  Calvinists  define  Sacravicntal 
eating  thus:     that  we  receive  by  the  mouth  the  bread,  which 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  109 

is  the  sacrament,  i.  e.,  only  the  sign  of  the  absent  body  of 
Christ." 

"We  (Lutherans)  describe  the  Sacramental  eating  thus: 
that  we  receive  with  the  mouth  the  bread  which  is  the  com- 
inunion  of  the  truly  present  body  of  Christ." 

"The  Calvinists  define  Spiritual  mandncation  thus:  that  the 
soul  elevates  itself  and  its  organ,  viz.,  faith,  to  heaven,  and 
there  enjoys  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  with  its  benefits." 

We  (Lutherans)  by  no  means  deny  the  application  of  the 
benefits  of  Christ  by  faith,  i.  e.,  the  Spiritual  eating  and  drink- 
ing of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  as  spoken  of  in  John  6: 
53-56,  but  we  have  reference  to  the  fruits  and  design  of  the 
Holy  Supper,  and  therefore  distinguish  from  that  the  sacra- 
mental mandncation  belonging  to  the  forju  of  the  Eucharist. 
But  when  the  sacramental  eating  is  called  spiritual,  this  is 
meant  to  counteract  all  carnal  and  earthly  ideas  which  human 
reason  can  conceive,  with  regard  to  this  celestial  mystery." 

Therefore,  the  gross,  physical,  Capernaitic  mode  of  eating 
understood  by  the  Jews  in  John  6  is  rejected. 

The  Romish  dogma  of  Tran-snbstantiation  which  was  foist- 
ed upon  the  Church,  and  advocated  for  hundreds  of  years,  was 
denounced  by  Luther  as  destructive  of  the  true  meaning  of 
the  Sacrament,  i.  e.,  a  co^nmnnion.  The  Romish  idea  destroys 
the  earthly  element  of  bread  and  wine  at  the  time  of  the  sac- 
ramental act  of  consecration,  and  vitiates  the  distribution  by 
withholding  the  cup  from  the  laity. 

Luther  and  his  co-reformers  restored  the  true  doctrine  of  the 
Real  Presence  as  taught  in  the  Scriptures,  and  advocated  by 
the  Church  Fathers ;  and  insisted  that  the  Lord's  Supper  should 
be  adniin^MC-vd  in  both  kmds.     (Augs.  Conf.  Art.  XXll.) 

It  is  important  to  note  the  historical  fact  that,  as  Copperriner 
declares  ("Means  of  Grace,"  p.  120),  "the  Christian  Church 
for  more  than  1500  years  had,  as  a  body,  retained  and  confessed 
the  doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence  in  the  Sacrament."  Great 
errors,  it  is  true,  had  crept  in  and  obscured  at  times  this  doc- 
trine, but  the  doctrine  itself  remained." 

Krauth,  (C.  R.  p.' 635-738)  gives  us  a  brilliant  array  of  his- 
torical proofs  of  the  above  assertion. 


110  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

The  Lutheran  Church  rejects  the  symbohc  idea  of  the  sacra- 
ment as  announced  by  ZwingH, ;  i.  e.,  that  the  earthly  elements 
are  mere  symbols  or  sigjis  of  the  heavenly  elements,  and  that 
the  design  and  blessing  of  the  sacrament  are  only  such  as 
would  serve  as  a  remembrance  of  Christ's  sacrifice  for  sin. 

We  reject  also  the  dogma  of  Consubstantiation.  It  is  la- 
mentable what  ignorance  prevails  among  scholars  and  others 
outside  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  charging  us  with  teaching 
Consubstantiation.  A  few  years  ago  a  prominent  editor  of  a 
religious  magazine  openly  made  the  charge  against  us,  and 
even  persisted  in  it  after  being  corrected. 

We  reject  also  Subpanation,  hnpanation,  and  in  fact  every 
rationalistic  idea  that  denies  the  Real  Presence  as  we  teach  it 
in  our  confessions. 

With  Luther,  we  can  say:  "Blessed  is  the  man  that  walketh 
not  in  the  counsel  of  the  Sacramentarians ;  nor  standeth  in  the 
way  of  the  Zwinglians ;  nor  sitteth  in  the  seat  of  the  Zurichers." 

As  to  Form,  we  teach  that  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  in 
with,  and  binder  the  bread  and  wine,  are  communicated  to  us 
only  when  the  mode  prescribed  by  our  Saviour  is  perfectly  ob- 
served.    Schmid  (p.  559)  says  as  to  that  mode: 

"There  must  be:  (a)  The  consecration  of  the  elements, 
(b)  The  distribution  of  the  elements,  (c)  The  partaking  of 
the  elements." 

On  this  point  the  Form  of  Concord,  (Sol.  Dec.  \^IL,  83)  is 
very  specific. 

It  follows,  then,  that  the  Romish  dogma  of  a  permanent 
change  in  the  elements  apart  from  and  after  the  sacramental 
act,  so  as  to  connect  some  magical  efficacy  with  the  Lord's 
Supper  as  a  propitiatory  sacrifice,  must  be  unscriptural,  and 
therefore  dangerous. 


In  this  rapid,  surface-view  of  the  subject  assigned  the  writer, 
in-.portant  matter  has  been  necessarily  omitted,  and  for  that 
reason  this  paper  appears  fragmentary.  We  have  sought  only 
to  give  the  more  salient  thoughts  on  the  various  points  involved. 

One  all-important  question  confronts  us  as  a  Church  in  this 
dawn  of  the  20th  century,  to  wit :  What  emphasis  shall  we  give 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  sacraments? 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  Hi 

Outside  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  among  the  denominations, 
and  among  rationaHstic  teachers,  there  are  grossly  wrong  teach- 
ings that  must  be  corrected.  Light  must  be  planted  in  the  midst 
of  this  darkness.  This  task  lies  at  the  door  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  today,  as  it  did  in  the  i6th  century/    If  it  be  true  that : 

"He  is  the  free-man  whom  the  Truth  makes  free 

And  all  are  slaves  besides," 
and  that  Truth  is: 

"That  golden  key. 

That  opes  the  palace  of  eternity," — 
then  we  owe  it  to  God  and  to  man  to  proclaim  the  truth,  for 
men  are  to  "know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  set  them  free." 
Doctrinal  preaching  has  largely  lost  favor  in  our  day,  the 
more  so,  perhaps,  because  of  its  infrequency  in  the  pulpit.  Dr. 
Mann  used  deploringly  to  say.  "This  is  not  a  Sacramental  age." 
The  lax  and  ultra-confessional  dogmas  of  the  denominations 
around  us  make  the  conservative  doctrines  of  our  Church  the 
target  of  their  attack ;  nevertheless  those  doctines  are  truly 
the  fortress.  Scriptural  and  impregnable,  of  our  defence  and 
progress.  Truth,  consecration,  organisation — these  are  the 
guarantee  of  victory. 

Truth  we  already  have ;  consecration  and  organization  must 
not  be  lacking.  To  encourage  us  to  the  performance  of  our 
duty, we  may  note  the  fact  as  recently  mentionel  by  Dr.  Blanch- 
ard,  of  Wheaton  College,  in  regard  to  the  status  of  the  Luth- 
eran Church  in  relation  to  the  "higher  criticism"  and  the  anti- 
Bibical  controversies  of  the  day.  that  "out  of  nearly  two  mil- 
lions of  Lutheran  communicants  in  the  LTnited  States,  with 
twent3'-four  Theological  Seminaries,"  and  we  may  add.  its 
splendid  array  of  scholarship,  "there  is  not  a  higher  critic 
among  them ;"  nor.  indeed,  is  there  a  need  of  one.  While  the 
denominations  around  us  are  shifting  their  doctrinal  position 
and  readjusting  their  creeds,  the  great  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Church  needs  no  readjustment,  no  new  confession.  In  the 
whole  panoply  of  God  she  stands  as  she  has  always  stood,  the 
champion  of  the  Faith. 

Within  the  Church  there  is  substantial  agreement  in  re- 
gard to  the  meaning  and  efficacy  of  the  sacraments.    There  may 


112  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

be  diverging  tendencies  in  regard  to  special  points — divergen- 
cies that  can  in  no  better  way  be  weighed  and  harmonized  than 
in  a  fraternal,  Spirit-controlled  Conference  of  this  character. 
To  the  consummation  of  this  end  may  the  Spirit  of  God  lead 
us !  In  a  fraternal  cooperation  of  heart  and  hand  what  mighty 
strides  the  Lutheran  Church  would  make  in  this  grand  coun- 
try of  ours ! 

Today  the  little  band  of  loyal  Lutherans  of  the  South- 
land through  a  humble  member  of  the  "old  mother  Synod,"  ex- 
tends the  fraternal  hand  to  the  great  Lutheran  hosts  of  the 
North.  East,  and  West,  and  with  glad  heart  exclaims,  "We  are 
brethren  fighting  under  a  common  banner,  and  champions  of 
a  common  cause !" 


REMARKS. 


The  Rev  Dr.  Richard  said  in  substance : — 
There  are  two  points  in  the  essay  just  read  to  which  we  wish 
to  advert. 

I.  It  is  true  that  Lutherans  of  former  days  very  generally, 
perhaps  universally,  repudiated  the  term  Consubstantiation 
when  applied  to  their  doctrine  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  This  they 
had  a  right  to  do  if  they  conceived  that  the  term  was  used  to 
convey  the  idea  that  in  the  Lord's  Supper  there  is  an  amalga- 
mation of  the  substance  of  the  bread  and  of  the  substance  of 
the  body,  whereby  a  new  substance  is  formed — which  no  Luth- 
eran probably  ever  taught.  But  in  recent  times  eminent  Luth- 
eran theologians  have  used  the  term  in  describing  the  Luther- 
an doctrine.  At  this  moment  we  recall  the  names  of  Rohnert 
in  his  Means  of  Grace,  Phillippi  in  his  Dogmatik,  the  Mensel 
Handlexikon,  Steits  and  Hauck  in  the  Real-encyclo[^adic'r 
(Art.  Transubstantiation),  Kaweran  in  the  Moeller  Church 
History. .  These  theologians,  whose  learning  and  Lutheran 
soundness  it  would  not  become  us  to  impeach,  use  the  word  in 
the  sense  of  res  in  re;  or,  that  the  two  objects  of  the  Supper 
bread  and  body,  are  brought  together  in  one  and  the  same  act 
of  taking  and  eating;  or  in  the  sense  that  the  two  unchanged 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  113 

substances  coexist  in  their  integrity  in  the  same  place — which 
the  Lutheran  theology  certainly  does  teach :  "The  two  sub- 
stances, the  natural  bread,  and  the  true  natural  body  of  Christ, 
are  together  present  here  on  earth  in  the  instituted  administra- 
tion of  this  sacrament."  It  may  be  not  wise  therefore  for  us 
to  reject  the  word  altogether,  and  to  affirm  unqualifiedly  that 
Lutherans  have  taught  Consnbstantiation,  and  that  the 
word  entirely  misrepresents  the  Lutheran  doctrine. 

2.  The  second  point  to  which  we  wish  to  advert  is  that  of 
Infant  Faith.  We  are  positively  of  the  opinion  that  infant  faith 
is  psychologically  impossible.  "Faith  come^:h  of  hearing,  and 
hearing  by  the  word  of  Christ."  New-born  infants  connot 
hear  the  word  of  Christ  in  the  sense  manifestly  intended  by  the 
apostle.  The  argument  based  on  the  passivity  of  the  new-born 
child  not  only  involves  a  begging  of  the  question,  but  it  con- 
tradicts first  principles.  Evangelical,  saving  faith,  in  its  first 
instance,  is  an  act,  an  act  of  the  understanding  and  of  the 
ethico-religious  will.  A  new-born  child  cannot  feel  a  moral  ob- 
ligation. We  dare  not  assume  that  baptism,  works  magically 
or  opere  operate  in  the  latent  religious  susceptibility  of  the 
new-born  child.  In  view  of  the  utter  silence  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment on  the  subject  of  infant  baptism,  we  are  not  warranted 
in  assuming  more  than  that  baptism  places. the  child  in  t}ie 
covenant  of  grace,  and  s&iures  it  access  to  the  preaching  and 
teaching  of  the  divine  word,  since  we  baptize  children  with 
reference  primarily  to  their  living,  and  not  primarily  with  refer- 
erence  to  the  possibility  of  their  dying  in  infancy. 

'c'vtd  also  that  those  persons  who  advance  a 
theory  of  infant  faith,  are  forced  to  define  or  to  describe  in- 
fant faith  very  differently  from  what  they  define  or  describe 
that  saving  faith  which  they  ascribe  to  believing  adults.  Re- 
call the  definition  or  description  of  infant  faith  taken  by  the 
essayist  from  Chemnitz,  through  Dr.  Krauth.  It  must  also  be 
observed  that  no  person  is  to  be  de  Lutheranized  because  he  does 
not  believe  and  teach  infant  faith,  since  infant  faith  is  not  con- 
fessional. Der.  Kindcrglaube  ist  Keine  symboUsche  Lehre, 
savs  Dr.  Plitt  in  his  Grandriss  der  Symbolik,  Infant  faith  js 


114  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

not  affirmed  in  any  confession  of  any  church.  Luther  does  in- 
deed say  (in  the  Large  Catechism)  we  bring  the  child  to  bap- 
tism with  the  intention  and  hope  that  it  way  believe,  not  be- 
cause it  does  beUeve.  The  act  looks  to  the  future,  to  the  time 
when  the  child  comes  to  hear  and  to  apprehend  the  word  ot 
Christ.  Luther's  language  is  really  the  language  of  doubt,  and 
not  that  of  an  affirming  assured  faith,  for  he  at  length  turns 
the  whole  question  of  infant  faith  over  to  the  doctors,  that  is, 
to  the  philosophers.  And  when  in  another  place  he  tries  to 
prove  the  possibility  of  faith  in  infants,  by  reference  to  the  fact 
that  a  believing  adult  does  not  lose  his  faith  while  sleeping,  we 
reply  by  saying,  neither  did  he  get  his  faith  in  the  primary  in- 
stance, while  sleeping.  The  illustration  of  comparison,  is  ut- 
terly non  apropos.  Faith  in  its  primary  instance  is  an  energetic 
act  of  the  co^iscious  spirit.  We  oiipiize  ci  '.dren  with  the  in- 
tention and  hope  that  they  ma;/  believe,  and  because  we  be- 
lieve that  by  baptism  cliildren  are  placed  in  the  covenant  of  God. 
This  is  a  great  grace.  But  it  is  not  the  teaching  of  any  Luth- 
eran Confession  that  the  unbaptized  child  will  be  loss.  Rather 
is  it  the  implied  teaching  of  the  Lutheran  Confessions,  based 
as  they  are  or.  the  doctrine  of  God's  fatherly  love,  and  His  will 
to  save  all  men.  that  all  children  dying  before  they  have  con- 
sciously sinned,  wilf  be  saved.  The  harsh  teaching  of  the  entire 
Wittenburg  Theological  Faculty  in  1545,  and  of  some  Luth- 
erans since,  denying  salvation  to  the  unbaptized  children  of 
Jews  and  heathen,  has  not  been  approved  by  the  Lutheran 
Church  as  a  whole ;  and  it  is  not  probable  that  a  Lutheran  can 
be  found  any  where  in  the  world  today,  who  would  affirm  thai 
unbaptized  infants  dying  in  infancy  are  lost. 


The  Rev.  Dr.  H.  C.  Holloway  said:^ — 

I  am  pleased  as  well  as  profited  by  the  excellent  paper  of  Dr. 
Busby.  It  is  refreshing  to  have  so  clearly  and  forcibly  stated 
the  distinctive  doctrines  of  our  Church.  We  have  been,  and 
still  are,  too  frequently  misunderstood  in  this  regard.  I  be- 
long to  a  ministerial  association  in  my  town,  where  five  out  of 
eight  ministers  understood  that  the  Lutheran  Church  taught 
the  Romish  doctrine  of  Consubstantiation  in  the  Lord's  Sup- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  115 

fft.  They  do  not  believe  it  now,  but  it  required  a  good  deal  of 
earnest  and  persistent  effort  upon  my  part  to  correct  tjiis  mis- 
apprehension. It  is  not  the  Church's  fault  but  may  be  trace- 
able to  our  modesty  that  this  old  error  still  lingers  and  it  laid 
at  the  door  of  our  Church. 

One  of, the  number  of  ministers  of  the  association  referred 
to.  is  a  Scotchman,  who  paraded  authors,  distinguished  for 
their  learning,  such  as  Dr.  Shedd's  "History  of  Christian  Doc- 
trine," by  which  it  was  hoped  to  fasten  this  Romish  error  on 
our  Church.  But  this  effort  was  successfully  met  and  refuted 
by  an  array  of  Lutheran  divines,  as  well  as  the  Augsburg  Con- 
fession itself,  and  Luther,  who  firmly  and  persistently  repudiat- 
ed this  error.  Notably  also  the  learned  and  sainted  Dr.  Charles 
P.  Krauth;  was  quoted,  who  said:  "We  beg  him,"  Dr.  Shedd, 
"therefore,  as  he  desires  to  do,  as  he  would  be  done  by,  not  to 
tliink  that  our  Lutheran  Church,  historically  the  mother  of 
pure  Churches,  in  some  sense  even  of  his  own  Church  among 
them,  has  ever  believed  in  the  doctrine  of  Consubstantiation." 

We  hold  that  the  only  fair  and  proper  way  to  know  what  a 
Church's  doctrines  are  on  any  subject,  is  to  go  to  its  original 
sources — its  confession.  A  church  cannot  be  held  responsible 
for  what  this  and  the  other  man  may  teach  or  write,  but  what 
says  the  Confession  of  that  Church  ?  He  who  finds  the  doctrine 
of  Consubstantiation,  or  any  other  Romish  error,  taught  in  the 
Augsburg  Confession,  or  any  of  the  Lutheran  symbols,  surely 
has  read  them  to  no  profit.  Never,  according  to  the  teachings 
of  our  Confession  can  that  monstrous  doctrine  of  Consubstan- 
tiation be  attributed  to  our  Church.  From  first  to  last,  the 
Lutheran  Church  has  neglected  the  very  name  of  Consubstan- 
tiation and  everything  which  that  name  properly  implies. 

And,  on  the  other  hand,  no  Church  has  so  ably,  persistently, 
as  well  as  successfully  controverted  this,  and  all  popish  errors, 
as  the  Lutheran  Church.  It  seems  to  me  we  should  preach 
more  frequently  on  these  great  fundamental  doctrines,  and 
emphasize  them ;  for  I  am  very  sure  that  whenever  the  distinc- 
tive teachings  of  our  great  and  pure  Church  are  clearly  and  dis- 
tinctly set  forth,  they  commend  themselves  to  all  intelligent, 
thinking  people. 


116  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

The  Rev.  Edwin  F.  Keever  said : — 

Tliere  seems  to  be  considerable  complaint  about  the  way  in 
which  omer  churches  misunderstand  our  Lutheran  doctrine  of 
the  Lord's  Supper,  some  charging  us  with  believing  Consub- 
stantiation,  and  others  that  we  even  hold  Transubstantiation. 
But  this  is  to  be  expected ;  since  both  these  terms  have  always 
been  variable.  Even  after  the  Council  of  the  Lateran  in  12 15 
had  determined  the  dogma  of  Transubstantiation,  many  of  the 
Schoolmen  did  not  think  that  that  doctrine  required  an  abso- 
lute change  of  the  bread-substance  and  a  separation  of  sub- 
stance from  accidents,  but  might  be  more  reasonably  and  Scrip- 
turally  understood  in  the  mode  which  Luther  afterwards 
adopted. 

As  to  Consubstantiation  it  has  always  been  a  variable  term. 
Its  application  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  as  far  as  I  have  been  able 
to  discover,  has  never  been  exactly  defined.  The  modern  un- 
derstanding of  the  word  is  also  indefinite,  and  in  some  cases 
might  be  applied  properly  to  the  Lutheran  doctrine.  In  this 
discussion  it  would  seem  that  the  speakers  who  repudiate  Con- 
substantiation  ought  first  to  state  their  conception  of  it.  so  that 
we  may  all  be  in  the  clear. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Weigle  said : — 

Appreciating  the  learning  and  ability  of  our  theological  pro- 
fessors to  make  clear  distinctions  by  carefully  defining  what 
the  teaching  of  our  Church  is  touching  the  sacraments,  I  wish 
to  say  a  word  from  the  stand-point  of  a  pastor.  My  experience 
and  observation  as  a  pastor  teaches  me  that  the  people  are  not 
in  danger  of  seeing  too  much  in  the  sacraments.  I  would  not 
teach  that  the  divine  life  always  has  its  beginning  in  Baptism, 
but  that  it  is  not  sealed  to  us  until  we  have  been  baptized.  Our 
Christianity  is  an  open  letter  so  long  as  we  are  not  baptized. 
With  respect  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  I  would  teach  that  the  bread 
remaining  bread,  and  the  wine  remaining  wine,  with  these 
elements  of  bread  and  wine,  as  channels,  as  vehicles,  we  re- 
ceive the  glorified  Christ,  it  is  for  us  pastors  to  teach  and  preach 
faithfully  the  doctrines  of  our  Church.     Our  teaching  wins 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  117 

favor  wherever  lovingly  and  loyally  maintained,  because  it  is 
in  harmonv  with  God's  Word. 


The  Rev.  D.  L.  Mackenzie  lamented  the  difficulty  of  some 
of  the  speakers  in  accepting  the  Lutheran  doctrine  of  the  sac- 
raments, and  particularly  that  of  Luther's  Catechisms,  "When 
the  Word  is  preached,  it  not  only  enters  my  ear,  but  also  the 
Holy  Ghost,  through  that  word,  enables  me  to  believe  on  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  So,  when  the  Lord's  Supper  is  admmis- 
tered,  not  only  do  the  consecrated  bread  and  wine  enter  my 
mouth  but  also,  through  the  ear,  the  Word  of  God,  and  Christ, 
in  the  word,  enter  and  meet  the  elements,  at  the  portal  of  the 
body,  enabling  me  to  receive  the  communion  of  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ." 


The  Rev.  Dr.  Jacobs  said : — 

That  it  was  to  be  regretted  that  ample  time  ccnld  not  be 
given  to  this  discussion.  We  have  reached  a  point  where  we 
can  candidly  express  and  treat  of  our  differences  with  dispas- 
sionateness and  respect  for  one  another ;  and  we  would  linger 
here  for  hours,  if  v^e  could.  He  was  glad  thai"  Dr.  Richard 
had  spoken  frankly.  There  was  much  with  which  he  agreed. 
We  must  deal  with  the  antagonists  of  our  Lutheran  faith  dis- 
criminatingly, and  concede  that  there  is  often  a  basis  for  what 
we.  nevertheless,  justly  condemn  as  misrepresentations.  Dr. 
Richard  was  correct  in  stating  that  there  were  Lutheran  theo- 
ologians  as  late  as  1559  who  had  no  hope  of  the  salvation  of 
unbaptized  children  born  without  the  Church.  This  opinion 
was  supported  by  prominent  names  of  a  considerably  later  per- 
iod. Their  proof-text  was :  "What  have  I  to  do,  to  judge 
them  that  are  witliout?"  But  the  error  of  our  critics  is  that 
ti:e}-  make  the  Church  chargeable  with  the  opinions  of  individ- 
ual theologians.  Our  Confessions  nowhere  make  such  state- 
°n:ent.  Nevertheless  I  can  apologize  for  a  theokig-an.  not  of 
our  Church,  who  reads  such  statements  of  some  of  our  theo- 
logians, and  interprets  the  "necessary"  of  Art.  11.  of  the  Augs- 
burg Confession  accordingly. 

As  to  the  term  "consubstantiation,"  he  could  readilv  under- 


118  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

stand  the  seeming  justice  of  its  application.  Lutherans  believe 
the  substantial  presence  of  the  body  of  Christ,  and  the  subsan- 
tial  presence  of  the  bread  cotemporaneously  and  conjoint!)  in 
the  Lord's  Supper.  Etymologically,  the  term  would  seem  jus- 
tifiable. But  the  term  has  a  history.  Tliat  history  can  be  full)' 
appreciated  only  through  scholarly  investigation  into  the 
Mediaeval  writers,  such  as  the  brother  who  has  just  spoken 
(Rev.  E.  F.  Keever)  has  been  making.  The  term  became  tech- 
nical theology  already  in  the  formularies  of  the  early  Church 
that  confessed  that  Christ  is  "consubstantial  with  the  Father" 
according  to  His  divinity,  and  "consubstantial  v/ith  us,"  accord- 
ing to  His  humanity.  It  was  the  Latin  of  the  Greek  word 
"homoousios,"  the  battle-cry  of  Nicene  orthodoxy.  It  meant 
"of  the  same  nature."  This  is  what  we  deny  of  the  Body  of 
Christ  in  the  Lord's  Supper.  It  has  not  become  one  nature 
with  the  Bread.  That  there  may  have  been  theologians,  who 
have  thouglit  that  the  term  might  be  accepted  and  defended  by 
Lutherans  is  not  remarkable.  There  is  no  position  so  absurd 
and  untenable  as  not  to  claim  the  admiration  and  enlist  the 
championship  of  eccentric  scholars.  It  is  rejected  by  the  over- 
whelming testimony  of  those  who  teach  the  Lutheran  doctrine 
of  the  Lord's  Supper  as  inadequate,  confusing,  misleading. 
and  an  oflfensive  nick-name  for  a  holy  mystery. 

Ke  could  not  share  the  high  regard  for  the  opinions  of  liv- 
ing German  theologians  that  had  been  expressed.  It  was  nut 
exactly  a  matter  of  indifference  if  the  statement  were  correct 
that  appeal  to  the  words  of  institution  in  the  evangelists  was 
so  universally  abandoned  by  conservative  German  scholars. 
But  it  would  be  onl}'  a  matter  of  regret  that  they  had  departed 
from  the  sole  standard,  and  would  not  affect  our  faith  in  the 
least.  What  are  all  the  faculties  in  Germany  combined?'  Why 
must  v/e  be  alv/ays  referred  to  Germany,  as  t'uough  we  had  not 
the  Word  of  God  in  our  ovv^n  hands,  and  must  find  only  there 
the  oracles  that  could  interpret  it?  Is  not  this  a  violation  ot 
the  formal  principle  of  Protestantism  ?  What,  too,  is  the  re- 
sult? How  long  do  the  feculties  of  Germany  abide  by  one 
position  ?  Is  not  everything  there,  uncertain,  vacillating,  shift- 
ing?    As  my  revered  and  now  departed  senior  colleague,  Dr. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  119 

Mann,  once  told  a  body  of  American  scholars,  in  my  presence : 
"The  German  scholars  all  run  in  one  direction,  one  year ;  and 
in  the  next,  turn  around,  and  run  with  equal  zeal,  the  opposite 
way."  We  have  the  standard  according  to  which  to  judge 
them :  and  let  us  have  independence  enough  to  use  it  without 
looking  across  the  ocean  for  our  opinions. 

He  was  not  ready  to  admit  Dr.  Richard's  statement  that 
there  was  nothing  in  the  Lutheran  Confessions  concerning 
Kinder-Glaubc.  There  occurred  to  him  the  passage  in  the 
Large  Catechism,  where  Luther  says :  "We  bring  children  to 
baptism,  not  because  they  believe,  but  in  order  that  they  may 
believe."  Perhaps  the  difference  between  us  on  this  subject, 
is  not  as  great  as  may  at  first  appear.  No  one  maintains  that 
infants  have  conscious  faith,  or  that  this  faith  puts  forth  acts. 
The  difference  may  lie  in  our  definition  of  faith.  Faith,  we 
hold,  is  not  only,  nay  more,  not  chiefly  an  act.  Back  of  the  act 
is  a  state,  a  relation,  an  attitude,  a  Iiabitiis.  as  the  oVl  teachers 
called  it.  This  question  was  discussed  at  W'ttenberg  in  1536, 
in  ihat  famous  conferenc."  between  Luthci  and  his  colieagnes. 
on  the  one  hand,  and  Bucer  and  his  friends,  on  the  other,  which 
resulted  in  the  Wittenberg  Concord.  We  have  a  full 
report  of  that  discussion  from  Bucer  himself.  ( Scripta 
Anglicona,  p.  656.)  in  which  he  says  that  he 
urged  the  passage.  "Faith  cometh  by  hearing,"  and  that  Luther 
answered  that  just  as  we  do  not  affirm  that  believers  lose  faith 
when  they  go  to  sleep,  and  receive  it  anew  when  they  awaken, 
so  the  conscious  exercise  of  faith  is  not  essential  to  its  presence. 
This  so  far  satisfied  Bucer  that  he  united  with  Luther  in  the 
statement:  "It  is  manifest  that  through  Baptism  there  come  to 
infants  the  forgiveness  of  original  sin  and  the  gift  of  the  Holv 
Ghost  who  is  efficacious  in  them  according  to  their  measure. 
Although  we  do  not  understand  of  what  nature  that  action  of 
God  in  them  is,  nevertheless  it  is  certain  that  in  them  new  and 
holy  movements  are  wrought.  For  although  we  must  not 
imagine  that  infants  understand,  nevertheless  these  movements 
and  inclinations  to  believe  Christ  and  love  God,  are  in  a  meas- 
ure like  the  movements  of  faith  and  love.  This  is  'ivhat  we  say, 
when  we  say  that  infants  have  faith.     For  we  speak  thus,  that 


120  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

it  may  be  understood  that  infants  cannot  become  holy  and  be 
saved  without  a  divine  action  in  them/'  (Wittenberg  Concord, 
"of   Baptism.") 

This  in  no  may  conflicts  with  the  w^ords:  "Faith  cometh  by 
hearing."  In  the  missionary  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Rom- 
ans, St.  Paul  is  presenting  the  great  argument  for  sending  the 
Gospel  to  the  heathen.  It  is  not  by  baptism,  but  by  the  preach- 
ing of  the  word,  that  heathen  are  converted  to  Christianity. 
This  argument  for  missionary  effort  no  more  affirms  that  hear- 
ing is  the  only  instrument  by  which  faith  comes  than  the  his- 
tory of  a  saved  soul  in  Rom.  8 :  30,  proves  that  none  are  called 
but  they  who  have  been  predestinated,  or  that  all  who  are  call- 
ed are  justified  and  glorified.  Just  as  the  Apostle  in  the  latter 
passage  makes  no  attempt  to  give  an  exhaustive  presentation 
of  the  doctrine  of  predestination,  so  in  the  former  there  is  no 
exhaustive  treatment  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Means  of  Grace. 
Otherwist,  why  not  deny  also  that  the  reading  of  the  word 
confers  faith,  since  the  Apostle  speaks  only  of  hearing.  And 
yet  even  to  the  baptized  child,  faith  must  come  by  hearing,  as 
the  Christian  Life  is  a  progress  from  faith  to  faith,  and  the 
faith  once  given  in  the  feeblest  degree  in  Baptism  must  grow 
through  faith  given  by  hearing,  or  it  perishes  like  a  grain  of 
wheat  cast  into  the  sands  of  the  desert. 

The  speaker  had  intended  to  refer  also  to  the  objection  to  the 
term  "oral"  as  descriptive  of  the  reception  of  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ  in  the  Holy  Supper,  but,  in  his  very  limited 
time,  overlooked  it  while  speaking.  He  would  have  said  that 
the  Formula  of  Concord  carefully  guards  the  term  from  gross 
conceptions,  as  the  essayist  has  shown,  and  means  by  its  use, 
only  to  emphasize  the  objective  presence,  as  distinguished  from 
all  theories  of  a  subjective  presence.  Do  the  presence  and  re- 
ception depend  upon  the  word  and  institution  of  Christ,  or  upon 
the  faith  of  the  communicant?  If  the  reception  be  only  by 
faith  and  not  also  by  the  mouth,  can  unbelievers  eat  and  drink 
to  their  condemnation  ?  So  the  Augsburg  Confession  says  that 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  are  distributed  "to  those  eating" 
in  the  I  loly  Supper.  It  is  simply  this  doctrine  of  Art.  X  of  the 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  l2l 

Augustana,  and  the  later  Confession  designates  by  the  term 
"oral  manducation." 


CHRISTIAN  LIBERTY  AND  ITS  LIMITATIONS. 

By  the  Rev.  S.  A.  Repass,  D.  D. 
It  is  well  in  writing  on  any  subject  to  secure  a  clear  under- 
standing of  the  meaning  of  terms ;  otherwise  clear  conclusions 
cannot  be  reached.  Nor  is  it  less  important  to  have  well  in  mind 
the  presuppositions  upon  which  our  reasoning  rests ;  otherwise 
we  may  run  into  confusion  and  vague  generalities.  Compre- 
hensively viewed  our  thinking  is  at  best  partial  and  fragmen- 
tary, embracing  no  more  than  smal  sections  of  the  great  whole  of 
any  subject  on  which  it  may  be  exercised.  We  do  not  know  all 
about  anything,  and  can  scarcely  aim  at  more  than  to  focus 
our  thoughts  upon  what  lies  more  directly  about  us.  And  yet 
it  is  not  wise  nor  safe  to  take  too  much  for  granted.  The  sub- 
ject of  this  paper  is  well  guarded  and  defined.  It  is  not  liberty 
of  which  we  are  expected  to  write,  a  word  with  which  all 
sorts  of  men  have  sought  to  conjure.  It  is  Christian  Liberty, 
that  which  the  Christian  man  has  and  in  which  he  lives  and  re- 
joices. The  Christian  man,  we  repeat.  And  he  is  one  who  is  no 
longer  in  the  state  of  nature,  or  bound  by  the  sinful  limitations 
of  the  natural  man.  There  is  no  condition  more  real,  and  no 
fact  more  certainly  established,  than  that  our  subjection  by  na- 
ture to  a  state  of  sin.  We  are  under  its  dominion  and  no  en- 
deavor or  struggle  of  our  own  can  give  or  bring  release.  We 
are  born  in  it.  live  it,  and  die  in  it,  unless  delivered  by  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  This  condition  is  no  less  one  of  condemnation, 
one  upon  which  rests  the  righteous  wrath  of  the  all-holy  God. 
Holy  Scripture  sets  forth  no  truth  more  constantly  and  clearly 
than  this,  that  we  are  by  nature  the  children  of  wrath.  Here 
it  is  less  a  fact  that  we  are  willingly  subject  to  this  tyranny,  and 
as  unwilling  to  break  with  it  as  we  are  in  our  own  strength 
unable.  We  love  the  servitude  which  above  all  others  renders 
us  most  miserable.  Indeed,  nothing  is  (jiiite  so  difficult  as  to 
gain  our  consent  to  be  delivered.  This  is  at  once  the  deepest 
mystery  of  sin  and  guilt ;  and  it  is  this  that  drew  the  pity  and 


122  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

love  of  God  to  ovir  state  of  helpless  misery. 

The  Christian  man  is  one  who  has  accepted  the  deliverance 
brought  to  us  in  the  Gospel.  The  whole  plan  of  redemption 
centers  on  its  practical  side  in  the  salvation  of  the  individual ; 
so  that  I  may  in  truth  say,  "the  Son  of  God  was  born,  lived, 
died,  rose  again  for  me ;  and  on  the  throne  of  His  grace  rules 
as  my  gracious  Lord  and  King.  He  has  broken  the  power  of 
sin,  delivered  wholly  from  its  condemnation,  and  me  set  at  liber- 
ty ;  and  He  who  was  sometime  the  willing  slave  of  Satan  has 
through  grace  become  a  free  man,  yet  the  willing  servant  of 
Jesus  Christ.  To  such  an  one  "there  is  no  condemnation." 
He  lives  and  walks  at  liberty.  No  state  possible  or  conceivable 
is  so  high  or  blessed  as  this :  and  none  is  so  real.  Compared  to 
it.  that  of  which  the  natural  man  loves  to  boast  is  no  more 
than  the  shadow  of  an  unreality. 

We  need  to  hold  strictly  to  the  presentation  just  made.  The 
Christian  man  is  not  man  in  a  state  of  nature  under  the  bond- 
age of  sin  and  its  condemnation.  In  other  words,  he  is  a  new 
creature,  and  created  in  Jesus  Christ  after  His  own  image. 
Of  such  an  one,  it  is  said,  and  is  true,  "old  things  are  passed 
away ;  behold,  all  things  are  become  new."  While  there  has 
been  no  destruction  of  the  nature  of  the  man  there  has  been 
a  renewal,  a  real  and  truly  new  energy  implanted,  involving  a 
change  of  his  relation  to  God,  and  making  him  who  was  be- 
fore a  child  ot  wrath,  a  child  of  God.  This  is  something  more, 
and,  indeed,  something  other,  than  a  mere  awakening  of  the 
conscience,  giving  to  him  clearer  moral  perceptions ;  and  some- 
thing other  than  the  quickening  of  certain  forces  before  latent, 
bring  these  out  into  the  light  of  consciousness,  and  imparting 
to  the  man  earnestness  of  purpose,  and  even  a  better  and 
higher  aim  in  life.  We  say,  and  with  emphasis,  the  Christian 
is  something  more  and  other  than  this.  To  reach  the  thought 
of  the  New  Testament  in  what  it  delcares  concerning  him  who 
is  born  of  God  there  must  be  included  something  wholly  new, 
something  in  no  sense  belonging  to  the  man  in  his  natural 
state.  This  is  that  given  in  Regeneration,  a  birth  in  its 
nature,  its  origin,  and  its  author,  from  above.  In  this  view  of 
it  Regeneration  is  akin  to  the  Incarnation.    To  the  one,  the  in- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  123 

dividual,  a  new  nature  is  given,  this  being  the  condition  of  a 
renewed  personality ;  in  the  other,  the  person  of  the  Son  ot 
God  assumes  humanity.  In  both  the  union  is  equally  real.  It 
is  this  that  makes,  and  indeed,  is  the  Christian  man.  Educa- 
tion can  never  evolve  it,  no  matter  how  complete  this  may  be. 
Nor  can  any  measure  of  civilization,  however  broad  and  refin- 
ed, bring  man  or  humanity  to  this  new  stage,  as  truly  new  to 
the  individual  as  the  Incarnation  was  a  new  thing  to  the  race. 
The  Christian  man  is  born  from  above,  is  truly -a  new  creature, 
and  possessing  a  new  consciousness,  may  we  not  say.  a  new 
personality  ? 

This  is  the  presupposition  involved  in  our  subject,  "Christian 
Liberty."  And  it  is  a  fundamental  one,  distinguishing  as  well 
the  nature  of  this  liberty  as  its  source  and  its  sphere.  No  one 
is  absolutely  free,  i.  e.,  wholly  independent  of  any  authority  be- 
yond himself.  This  can  be  predicated  only  of  God.  To  claim 
it  for  the  creature  is  a  contradiction  in  the  terms  employed, 
as  in  the  very  conception  itself.  We  were  created  dependent 
beings,  and  having  a  moral  nature  formed  in  the  image  of  God 
or  bound  by  the  law  both  of  God  and  of  our  own  nature  to 
live  under  obedience.  The  planets  are  not  more  certainly  ap- 
pointed to  their  orbits  than  we  to  conform  our  lives  to  the  law 
of  our  being,  which  is  that  of  obedience  to  God.  Not  only 
were  we  created  for  this  as  the  supreme  aim  of  life,  making 
it  indeed  the  very  sphere  in  which  our  lives  should  move :  but 
as  originally  created  our  nature  was  perfectly  conformed  to 
the  divine  will.  The  law  of  God  concerning  us,  and  the  law  of 
our  own  being,  and  as  well  the  actual  movements  of  the  entire 
inner  and  outer  life,  run  in  complete  accord,  with  nothing  of 
antagonism  existing  to  impair  the  harmon}\  Certainly  here 
were  present  all  the  conditions  necessary  to  liberty  of  conduct 
and  life.  It  was  not  liberty  to  act  without  regard  to  the  will 
of  another,  which  would  have  been  as  well  a  violation  of  the 
very  laws  of  their  own  being  as  of  the  law  of  God.  It  was  the 
free  action  of  creatures  whose  delight  was  in  the  law  of  the  Lord, 
and  all  of  whose  desires  were  towards  Him.  There  w^as  no 
constraint  either  from  within  or  from  without  impelling  to  an 
unwilling  obedience,  or  forcing  to  a  certain  line  of  conduct. 


124  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

There  was  unity  of  the  moral  creature  and  the  Creator,  bring- 
ing in  the  largest  measure  of  happiness.  This  was  the  condi- 
tion in  which  our  first  parents  were  created  and  lived.  They 
were  at  liberty. 

With  the  temptation  came  disobedience  and  sin ;  and  with 
sin  guilt  and  condemnation,  and  bondage.  We  are  not  here  con- 
cerned with  the  mystery  of  the  introduction  of  evil  into  our 
world.  It  is  enough  to  hold  by  this  statement,  that  yielding 
to  the  temptatfon  our  first  parents  fell  away  from  their  condi- 
tion of  purity  and  became  guilty.       That  act  of  disobedience 

"Brought  death  into  our  world,  and  all  its  woe," 
corrupting  the  nature  of  man  as  certainly  as  transgressed  the 
corrupting  the  nature  of  man  as  certainly  as  it  transgressed  the 
of  freedom  or  liberty,  i.  e.,  the  loss  of  both  the  power  and  de- 
sire to  obe}'  God.  It  is  more,  we  repeat,  than  the  mere  violation 
of  the  law  of  the  Soveriegn,  or  than  an  act  of  rebelion  against 
His  authority.  It  was  as  well  an  act  of  violence  done  to  the 
entire  nature  of  the  moral  creature,  destroying  the  harmony  of 
his  living,  separating  him  from  God,  his  true  life  and  joy, 
and  precipitating  him  into  a  state  of  bondage,  which  is  itself  a 
state  of  sin  and  guilt.  The  fall  is  no  niyth,  the  Garden  of 
Eden  no  park  of  wild  animals,  and  the  temptation  no  mere 
dramatic  representation  of  man's  birth  into  a  condition  of  self- 
conscious  freedom.  It  was  truly  a  fall.  A  fall  from  liberty  in 
union  with  God  into  a  state  of  slavery.  Verily,  the  more  com- 
plete our  obedience  to  God,  the  more  complete  our  liberty. 

The  Lord  Christ  came  to  bring  men  deliverance  from,  this 
guilty  n-.isery.  The  Law  intervened  to  give  the  knowledge  of 
sin.  and  the  consciousness  of  the  need  of  divine  help.  It  could 
do  no  more  than  this,  and  w4ien  tins  was  effected  its  end  was 
accomplished.  It  was  indeed  a  long  and  severe  discipline  and 
education,  and  to  which  both  Jews  and  Gentiles  were  subjected. 
The  nations  and  races  of  men  were  worn  out  in  the  process, 
and  became  more  and  more  sunken  in  sin  and  a  state  of  hope- 
lessness. Apart  from  those  in  whom  preparatory  grace  had 
wrought  its  good  work,  there  v/as  increasing  despair  and  in- 
creasing bondage.  Neither  by  wisdom,  nor  by  power,  nor  by 
art  could  redemption  be  secured.    True  liberty  was  gone,  since 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  i25 

"all  had  sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God." 

From  this  condition,  we  repeat,  the  Lord  J^,sus  Christ  came 
to  bring  deliverance.  In  our  nature  and  for  God's  eternal 
Son  lived  and  died,  in  order  that  through  Him  we  might  have 
salvation,  even  forgiveness  of  sin  and  eternal  life.  What  he 
did  for  us  toward  God  was  in  order  that  we  might  be  saved  and 
sanctified  through  Him,  and  serve  Him  in  righteousness  and 
holiness  in  our  life.  Those  who  believe  are  delivered  from  the 
condemriation  of  sin,  and  truly  and  really  restored  to  His 
favor.  Without  any  work  or  merit  of  their  own,  and  without 
any  obedience  as  a  condition,  except  as  faith  itself  is  obedience, 
they  are  fully  accepted  as  children  and  adopted  as  sons  of 
God.  And  in  that  relation  they  yield  a  free  and  read}-  obed- 
ience, finding  their  delight  in  doing  His  good  pleasure.  Their 
service  is  a  service  of  freedom,  rendered  without  constraint; 
and  as  they  have,  to  use  Luther's  fine  phrase,  "a  heart  of  the 
Law."  they  delight  in  obeying  Him  who  gave  it.  The  ground 
or  necessity  of  compulsion  is  removed,  all  fear  is  clean  gone, 
and  reconciled  in  Christ  in  the  spirit  of  children  they  render 
ready  and  willing  service.  While  they  are  diligent  in  obed- 
ience, and  fear  to  ofifend  against  God,  this  is  in  neither  case 
the  ground  of  their  hope  of  acceptance.  That  is  the  complete 
righteousness  of  Jesus  Christ,  theirs  by  faith,  and  theirs 
henceforth  and  forever.  This  is  Christian  Liberty,  the  liberty 
wherewith  Christ  hath  made  us  free.  They  who  stand  in  it 
serve  in  liberty,  and  walk  at  liberty.  All  things  are  theirs,  and 
they  are  lords  over  all.  The  law  cannot  bind  the  conscience  of 
such,  since  they  are  free  from  its  constraints;  and  whatever 
service  it  requires  or  demands  they  render  freely.  They  refuse 
to  go  under  any  yoke  of  bondage,  no  matter  by  whom  or  what 
this  may  be  imposed.  Having  taken  refuge  in  Christ  they 
stand  in  a  large  and  secure  place,  rejoicing  in  the  victory  he 
has  gained  for  them.  In  bondage  to  no  one,  and  to  nothing, 
they  walk  on  high  places  assured  of  their  liberty  and  confident 
in  their  possession.  From  the  law,  from  Church  ceremonies, 
from  holy  days  and  Sabbath  days,  and  from  all  compulsory 
human  enactments,  they  are  free,  free  in  the  liberty  of  Christ. 
These  statements  scarcely  require  qualification  before  those 


126  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

who  are  truly  instructed  in  our  Lutheran  faith.  Christian  lib- 
t-ri}-  is  not  Hcense,  nor  indeed  anything  hke  it.  From  all  forms 
of  Antinomianism  it  is  totally  removed.  Justification  by 
faith  no  more  conflicts  with  the  duty  of  doing  good  to  others 
than  does  this  liberty  conflict  with  the  service  of  love  to  our 
neighbor,  with  the  obligation,  indeed,  strongly  binding  on  the 
Christian,  to  lay  down  his  life  for  the  brethren,  and  to  be  the 
servant  of  all  men  in  love.  Commenting  on  i  Cor.  9:19: 
"Though  I  be  free  from  all  men  yet  have  I  made  myself  ser- 
vant unto  all."  Luther  lays  down  the  principle  points:  First, 
that  by  faith  the  Christian  is  a  free  man  over  all  things  and 
subject  to  none :  Second,  that  by  love  he  is  servant  to  all 
things  and  subject  to  every  one,  the  former  looking  chiefly 
to  man's  relation  to  God,  in  a  state  of  grace  and  justification, 
as  a  man.  regenerate,  and  spritual  man ;  the  latter  to  his  being 
still  in  the  world,  and  under  the  duties  which  his  calling  and 
condition  of  life  impose  upon  him.  By  faith  the  Christian  is 
united  to  Christ,  and  whatever  belongs  to  Christ  belongs  to 
the  Christian.  Christ's  life,  righteousness,  and  salvation  have 
freed  us  from  sin,  death,  and  hell,  and  from  the  law.  But  as 
Christ  took  upon  Himself  the  form  of  a  servant  to  minister 
unto  us,  thus  the  Christian,  being  himself  free  from  all  works  by 
faith,  resigns  his  own  liberty  in  order  to  do  to  his  neighbor 
as  Christ  has  done  to  him.  For  the  Christian  does  not  live  in 
himself,  but  in  Christ  and  in  the  brethren ;  in  Christ  by  faith, 
and  in  his  fellowmen  by  love.  By  faith  he  soars  upward  to 
God ;  by  love  he  stoops  to  his  fellowmen.  And  this  is  the  true 
Christian  Liberty,  not  a  liberty  from  works,  but  from  those 
false  presumptuous  opinions  concerning  works,  which  seek  jus- 
tification through  works.  Lord  over  all,  yet  servant  to  all — 
this  is  at  the  same  time  the  prerogative  and  the  duty  of  the 
Christian  man.  His  Christian  Liberty  is  a  most  real  and  bless- 
ed gift,  and  constrained  by  the  love  of  Christ  he  is  most  true  to 
himself  when  he  serves  others  in  love.  How  could  he  better 
show  himself  a  Christian  than  in  thus  imitating  Christ. 

In  principle  what  is  written  shows  the  limitations  of  Chris- 
tian Liberty.  There  will  scarcely  be  the  transgression  of  "the 
perfect  law  of  liberty"  when  "the  faith  that  worketh  by  love" 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  J  27 

is  present  and  rules  the  heart  and  hfe.  When  this  is  wanting, 
liberty  may  become  license.  On  the  one  hand,  if  faith  be  mere 
opinion  and  theory,  in  other  words,  if  it  be  not  evangelical,  it 
cannot  bear  that  distinctive  fruit — Christian  love.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  love  be  other  than  that  born  of  the  faith  that  saves  it  is 
liable  to  run  into  all  manner  of  extravagance,  and  manifest 
itself  in  unfaithfulness  to  Christ  and  His  holy  truth.  Faith 
puts,  and  faith  keeps  the  heart,  the  man  indeed,  right  before 
God ;  while  love,  which  is  the  product  of  faith,  puts  and 
holds  the  man  in  right  Christian  relations  towards  Christian 
men.  Christian  Liberty  has  its  limitations,  but  as  this  liberty 
is  born  of  the  Gospel  it  is  safe-guarded  by  Christian  love. 

The  Christian  man  is  a  freeman ;  and  in  the  highest  and  best 
sense  he  only  can  justify  his  claim  to  that  distinction.  Set  free 
from  the  dominion  of  sin  and  wrath,  and  in  and  with  Christ 
made  lord  over  all  things,  he  truly  walks  in  a  large  place,  and 
having  "a  heart  of  the  law,"  renders  obedience  in  love,  and 
without  constraint  from  without  or  from  within.  In  so  far  as 
he  stands  and  walks  in  the  liberty  wherewith  'Christ  has 
made  him  free'  he  has  and  cherishes  the  consciousness  of  the 
entire  security  of  his  position.  In  so  far  as  he  depart  from  this 
he  becomes  again  "entangled  with  the  youke  of  bondage,"  and 
will  be  led  into,  either  despair,  or  into  the  hopeless  endeavor 
to  work  out  his  own  righteousness.  In  Christ  there  is  offered 
a  deliverance  at  once  complete  and  final.  Apart  from  Him 
there  may  be  hard  labor  and  conflict,  but  no  true  hope  of  re- 
lease. A  caged  bird  may  beat  its  prison  never  so  eagerly  to 
escape  its  confinement,  but  with  no  other  result  than  bleeding 
and  broken  wings.  The  Lord  Christ  gives  release,  and  leads 
to  liberty. 

Surely,  it  need  not  be  said  that  this  liberty  gives  no  license 
to  sin;  since  we  all  know  this  well.  "For  how  can  we  th.at  are 
dead  to  sin  live  any  longer  therein?"  The  fruits  of  .saving 
faith  are  fruits  of  righteousness  and  peare.  While  the  Chris- 
tian man  is  not  without  sin,  his  whole  life  uideed  being  a  strug- 
gle against  the  sin  within  and  without,  yet  living  in  sin  is  not 
less  violence  against  the  law  of  his  renewed  life  than  against 
God  Himself.    Liberty  to  sin,  or  violate  any  of  the  divine  laws, 


128  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

i'i,  to  sa_\'  '.>\i^  least,  monsi^'ousl}-  absurd,  and  an  utter  inversion 
of  e\XM\v  eonception  of  t!  r  Christ' m  life.  That  any  bcarni;^ 
the  name  of  Christ  have  maintained  and  practiced  such  a 
theory  is  one  of  the  strangest  contradictions  presenting  itself  to 
the  student  of  church  history.  The  Christian  life  is  not  one 
contrary  to  law ;  nor  one  alone  obedience  to  law ;  nor  one  in 
any^  sense  antagonistic  to  law.  It  stands  and  moves,  having  its 
beginning  and  completion,  in  Him  who  was  Himself  the  most 
perfect  personal  embodiment  of  the  law.  We  are  justified  by- 
faith  in  Hint  who  is  "the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to 
every  one  that  believeth."  Verily,  Christian  liberty  contains 
and  confers  no  warrant  for  v/rong-doing.  Much  rather  is  it 
this :  the  inherited  privilege  and  ability  to  conform  the  life  in 
Jesus  Christ  to  the  law  governing  the  new  creature.  On  this 
side  Christian  liberty  has  its  limitations  in  righteousness  and 
truth. 

As  towards  men  it  has  and  finds  its  limitations  in  the  law 
of  Christian  love.  It  dare  not  sacrifice  truth  in  order  to  please 
those  who  may  reject  it,  nor  make  any  compromise  of  what  it 
sacredly  holds  to  be  truth.  Born  of  the  truth  the  truly  Chris- 
tian man  loves  it ;  how  then  can  he  cast  reproach  upon  its  mas- 
ter who  loves  him  ?  And  yet,  he  holds  the  truth  in  love  even 
toward  those  who  err  in  departing  from  it ;  while,  without 
hypocrisy  or  partiality,  he  bears  testimony  against  the  error. 
The  truth  of  God's  Word  is  a  thing  so  sacred  and  vital  that 
the  maintenance  of  it  abundantly  justifies  the  religious  contro- 
versies of  the  past  and  present ;  while  the  rancor  and  littleness 
of  spirit  often  characterizing  these  is  a  clear  violation  of  the 
law  of  Christian  love.  To  disown  truth  for  the  sake  of  peace, 
as  in  the  interest  of  Christian  union,  is  treason  to  God  and 
truth,  and  introduces  evils  a  hundred  fold  more  damaging  to 
the  cause  of  true  religion  than  all  the  gains  it  hopes  to  secure. 
Such  a  course  is  not  an  abuse  of  Christian  Liberty.  It  is  some- 
thing quite  different ;  a  ilcense  that  merits  only  reprobation. 

There  are  not  a  few  questions,  adiaphora  in  their  nature,  which 
might  receive  consideration  under  the  subject  of  this  paper.  It  is 
not  difficult   for  the  Christian  man  to  determine  his  attitude 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  129 

towards  those  who  are  brethren,  under  conditions  of  this 
character.  The  principle,  and  indeed  the  rule  of  conduct,  is 
clearly  laid  down  by  the  apostle.  We  may  not  always  insist 
on  our  rights,  or  on  the  exercise  of  our  liberty  in  Christ,  re- 
gardless of  the  opinions  and  convictions  of  others.  Here  the 
law  of  Christian  love  clearly  indicates  our  course  of  action,  re- 
quiring that  we  resign  our  liberty  for  the  sake  of  those  who 
are  weak  in  the  faith.  Now  the  strong  ought  to  bear  the  in- 
firmities of  the  weak,  and  not  insist  on  pleasing  themselves. 
He  who  claims  to  have  been  led,  and  who  indeed  has  been  led. 
into  the  liberty  of  the  Gospel,  may  regard  with  true  Christian 
pity  those  who  are  still  in  bondage  to  the  old  letter,  and  who 
have  not  been  wholly  delivered  from  the  "law  of  ordinances ;" 
and  without  surrendering  his  own  freedom  may  well  stoop  to 
his  brother  in  weakness.  "All  things  are  lawful  for  me,  but 
all  things  are  not  expedient :  all  things  are  lawful  for  me.  but 
I  will  not  be  brought  under  the  power  of  any."  In  what  is 
vital  I  must  and  can  yield  nothing,  holding  the  truth  in  love, 
but  still  holding  it  against  all  contradictions,  and  even  persecu- 
tion. In  what  is  indifferent  I  may  resign  my  liberty,  and 
be  "all  things  to  all  men."  This  is  after  the  example  of  oui 
Lord  and  His  apostles.  Christian  Liberty  has  its  limitations ; 
but  in  matters  adiaphora  it  is  bounded  by  the  large  sphere  of 
Christian  love. 

Redeemed  without  money  or  price  of  our  own,  and  yet  re- 
deemed at  an  infinite  cost,  we  are  called  to  the  service  of  our 
Lord.  This  service  is  perfect  freedom,  yet  it  no  less  demands 
the  undivided  affection  and  energy  of  our  redeemed  nature. 
To  wear}-  of  it,  or  to  give  it  in  any  other  than  a  spirit  of  ready 
and  entij'e  willingness,  indicates  that  we  have  not  risen  to  a  just 
estimate  of  our  vocation  and  privilege.  Ours  is  an  estate  of 
liberty.  We  are  to  live  in  and  breathe  it  as  the  condition  of  our 
Christian  Hfe.  It  is  the  portion  only  of  those  who  are  the 
children  of  God  by  faith  in  His  well  beloved  Son.  All  others 
are  in  bondage,  however  loudly  they  may  boast  of  liberty,  for 
"He  is  free  whom  the  truth  makes  free, 
And  all  are  slaves  besides." 


130  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

REMARKS. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Fry  said : — 

The  paper  read  did  not  touch  upon  a  point  of  serious  im- 
portance which  he  would  like  discussed, — viz.  May  the  limita- 
tions of  our  liberty  ever  become  a  law  ?  For  example,  because 
Paul  says,  "if  meat  make  by  brother  to  offend.  I  will  eat  no 
flesh  while  the  world  stands."  it  has  been  affirmed  a  Christian 
has  no  right  to  use  his  liberty  in  any  way  or  thing  at  which  any 
other  person  may  take  offence.  Thus  the  liberty  we  gain  under 
the  Gospel  is  prohibited  by  the  force  of  a  law,  whenever  its  ex- 
ercise is  displeasing-  to  another.  Doubtless  there  are  limita- 
tions to  Christian  liberty,  but  there  ought  to  be  boundary  lines 
to  these  limitations.  He  asked  the  essayist  if  he  had  given 
this  point  any  consideration  ? 


The  Rev.  Dr.  Repass  said : — 

Answering  the  question  of  Dr.  Fry. — While  a  brother 
might  seek  to  make  an  unreasonable  use  of  the  doctrine  of 
Christian  liberty  as  defined,  imposing  most  unwarranted  re- 
straints upon  others,  the  position  taken  in  the  paper  was  clearly 
Scriptural,  and  the  principle  sufficiently  comprehensive  to  in- 
clude the  whole  practical  Christian  life.  In  things,  or  matters, 
indifferent,  Christians  may  well  yield  their  liberty  even  to  those 
who  are  unreasonable  in  maintaining  what  they  claim  to  be 
their  conscientious  conditions.  It  is  always  our  right  and  duty 
to  seek  to  instruct  a  weak  brother,  and  to  lead  him  into  clearer 
light.  When  this  is  done  in  a  spirit  of  love,  rather  than  of  dic- 
tation and  proud  superiorit)-.  the  truth  can  scarcely  fail  to  lead 
the  brother  into  a  clearer  vision  of  that  liberty  "wherewdth 
Christ  hath  made  us  free."  Nothing  is  so  expansive  and  all- 
conquering  as  the  truth  here  and  maintained  in  the  lave  of 
Christ. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  131 

THE  HISTORICAL  DEACONESS  WORK  AND  AMERI- 
CAN CONDITIONS. 

By  Rev.  G.  C.  Berkenicier,  D.  D.,  Director  of  the  Wartburg 
Orphans'  Farm  School,  Mt.   Fernon,  N.   Y. 

Woman  in  her  proper  place  is  always  a  benediction,  out  of 
place  she  is  a  curse.  Woman  is  equally  out  of  place,  when  she 
usurps  the  prerogatives  of  man.  as  when  she — by  a  false  ascetic 
principle — separates  from  man.  ceases  to  be  his  earthly  help- 
meet, confining  herself  within  the  high  walls  of  nunnery,  de- 
claring in  violation  of  God's  first  ordinance,  that,  after  all,  it  is 
good  for  man  to  be  alone. 

Christianity  has  given  woman  her  proper  place,  bestowed  to 
her  the  most  exalted  honors  and  vested  her  with  unprecedented 
rights.  Nothing  proves  this  more  significantly  than  the  ofiice 
of  the  female  diaconate  in  the  primative  Church.  The  scope 
of  this  office  was  to  afford  a  full  development  to  female  ener- 
gies for  social  and  religious  purposes ;  to  associate  women,  as 
far  as  possible  in  rank  and  practice  with  men,  while  preserv- 
ing to  each  sex  its  distinct  sphere  of  activity — to  the  one  the 
supremacy  of  the  head,  to  the  other  that  of  the  heart ;  to  the 
(ji'se  power,  to  the  other  influence ;  to  the  one  the  office  of  pub- 
lic preaching,  exhortation  and  relief,  to  the  other  that  of 
private  exhortation,  consolation  and  helpfulness,  yet  each  act- 
ing under  the  influence  of  that  Holy  Spirit,  who  was  invoked 
alike  over  the  head  of  the  deacon  and  deaconess  at  their  ordina- 
tion. True  in  this  was  the  Church  to  the  laws  of  man's  being, 
as  displayed  progressively  throughout  Holy  Scripture,  from 
(jenesis  to  Revelations.  By  a  preordained  and  eternal  mar- 
riage man  and  woman  must  be  one  in  order  to  fulfill  the  great 
destinies  of  humanity.  Genesis  shows  us  how  it  is  not  good 
for  man  to  be  alone,  how  woman  is  made  a  helpmeet  for  him. 
The  New  Testament  discovers  to  us  the  deep  spiritual  ground 
of  this  relation,  by  showing  us  Christ  as  the  Holy  Bridegroom 
of  his  hallowed  Bride — the  Church.  History  confirms  the  les- 
son from  age  to  age.  from  country  to  country,  by  showing  how, 
if  on  the  one  hand  you  ignore  sex  and  put  woman  on  the  same 
footing  with  man,  woman  become^  a  monster, — whilst  if  you 
ueprive  either  sex  of  its  free  action,  of  its  free  influence  over 


132  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

each  other,  the  result  is  national  sterility,  the  man  a  savag'e. 
the  woman  a  fool.  Restore  eastern  women  their  scriptural 
rights  and  infuse  them  with  the  Christian  spirit,  and  the  whole 
eastern  world  will  rise  up  new-born. 

These  are  very  broad  and  general  siat"  \entK,— and  yet  they 
arc  fundementai,  ar.d  dare  not  ])e  los.'  .•.•;;hi  ijf  in  the  proper 
discussion  of  our  particular  subject,  "The  Historical  Deaconess 
Work."  I  did  not  choose  this  subject.  It  was  assigned  to  me. 
At  first  I  was  at  loss  how  to  treat  it  without  first  examining  ex- 
egetically  and  dogmatically  the  scriptural  office  of  the  female 
diaconate ; — yet  that  has  been  done,  been  done  so  often  and  so 
thoroughly  by  others,  that  at  the  best  I  could  only  repeat  what 
you  have  all  heard  before.  It  is  well,  however,  always  to  ex- 
amine our  settled  axioms  in  the  light  of  history,  thereby  not 
only  proving  our  example,  but  also  entering  into  a  deeper  un- 
derstanding of  the  same.  History  is  the  one  unerring  correc- 
tive for  the  subtle  and  often  very  limited  reasonings  of  man 
and  "the  Owls  of  Minerva  sing  in  the  evening-time." 

In  considering  the  Female  Diaconate  there  is  surely  a  lesson 
for  us  in  its  history.  If  we  rehearse  this  history  as  briefly  as 
possible,  we  will  have  to  note  the  following  facts . 

1.  The  early  apostolic  Church  set  the  seal  upon  the  min- 
istering functions  of  women  by  the  appointment  of  a  Female 
Diaconate,  strictly  excluded  from  the  priestly  functions  of 
public  teaching  and  worship,  (cult),  but  nearly  coequal  with 
the  male  diaconate  as  respects  the  exercise  of  active  charity 
and  to  which  in  the  records  of  the  second  Century  we  find 
women  solemnly  ordained. 

2.  The  Deaconess  of  the  primitive  Church  is  an  individual 
deaconess  and,  like  the  deacon,  attached  to  the  service  of  a 
particular  congregation.  The  deacon  and  deaconess  work  to- 
gether, although  on  separate  lines,  still  with  one  object  in 
view — the  amelioration  of  the  world  by  the  selfdeny- 
ing  service  of  love.  Through  their  eflfectual  services 
the  Church  became  the  divine  organization  for  taking 
care  of  men.  The  "widows"  were  not  to  be  "neglected  in  the 
daily  ministration."  Every  man  is  cared  for  "according  as  he 
has  need."    The  poor,  the  destitute  are,  at  the  very  beginning. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  133 

embraced  in  this  systematic  Charity  of  the  Church.  There  had 
been  nothing  Hke  this  before.  It  was  a  revelation  to  the  heathen 
world.  The  Church  proclaimed  through  such  service  of  love 
the  brotherhood  and  equality  of  men.  She  declared  the  awful 
value  of  the  meanest  beggar.  She  knew  no  earthly  names, 
no  national  distinctions,  no  social  differences  in  her  work  of 
mercy.  As  her  Lord  had  died  for  all,  so  she  was  come  to  care 
for  all.  In  the  third  Century  we  find  into  how  large  a  system 
the  first  spontaneous  Charity  had  developed  itself.  Never  has 
the  v\^orld  seen  more  heroic  deeds  of  self-sacrificing  love  than 
those  of  Christain  women,  the  deaconesses  of  the  Church,  in 
those  memorable  days.  They  nursed  the  sick,  they  visited  the 
prison-houses,  they  followed  the  martyrs  to  the  stake  and  stood 
with  them  on  the  bloody  sand  of  the  amphitheatre.  They 
carried  their  lives  in  their  hands,  willing  at  all  times  to  be 
oitered  up  in  their  service. 

3.  In  the  course  of  time  the  typical  individual  Deaconess 
of  the  primitive  Church  entirely  disappears.  Why?  Evidently 
through  the  growth  in  the  Church  of  false  ascepic  principles 
and  in  particular  of  the  practice  of  religious  celibacy.  In  ex- 
act proportion  as  \we  find  the  female  diaconate  languish  and 
gradually  disappear,  we  see  the  rise  and  growth  of  monachism. 
The  deaconess  was  placed  under  the  pernicious  vow  of  celi- 
bacy and  beruni-=  a  Lun.  the  nuns  live, I  toeetlv  1  in  cl  'i^c  monas- 
tic communion.  By  and  by  monachism  resigns  supreme,  mon- 
achism with  its  perpetual  vows,  and  gaMing  observances  and 
(loctrines,  which  are  but  the  tradition  of  men.  Shut  in  by  the 
high  walls  of  the  cloister,  separated  from  the  wicked  outer 
world  by  a  grated  iron  door,  these  caged  saints  consider  them- 
selves a  little  holy  inner  world,  and  now  follows  a  great  /ear- 
long,  life-long,  age-long  struggle  of  the  loving  female  heart 
to  be  as  useful  and  as  saintly  as  it  can  without  endangering 
her  awful  vows  and  trembling  beneath  the  Damoclean  sword 
of  tremendous  penalties.  It  was  all  a  mistake,  a  sad,  dark  per- 
nicious mistake — the  mistake  of  religious  celibacy  and  under- 
lying this,  a  doctrine  only  second  in  unscriptural  falsehood  to 
Mariolatr}-  itself — that  of  the  marriage  of  the  individual  soul 
with  Christ. 


184  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

4.  Thus  perished  the  institution  of  the  female  diaconate. 
The  beautiful  river,  whose  living  waters  were  destined  to  re- 
fresh and  gladden  the  barren  desert  of  human  woe  and  suffer- 
ing was  itself  lost  in  the  desert  sand  of  monachism — was  lost 
but  not  gone,  had  disappeared  for  a  time  to  emerge  once  more 
in  new  glory  and  continue  triumphantly  on  its  beneficent  course. 

Already  in  the  eleventh  to  the  thirteenth  century  a  period 
opens,  in  which  women  strive  for  a  larger  sphere  of  activity 
in  the  field  of  charity  and  to  set  themselves  free  from  the 
shackles  of  monachism.  At  this  time  we  find  in  Germany  and 
Belgium  as  early  as  the  tenth  century  the  flourishing  Begv.ine 
Sisterhoods,  founded  on  the  principle  of  fellowship,  and  con- 
sisting of  widows  and  unmarried  girls  who,  without  separating 
themselves  wholly  from  their  kind  or  vowing  poverty,  perpet- 
ual chastity  or  absolute  obedience,  yet  led,  either  at  their  own 
homes  or  in  common  dwellings,  a  life  of  prayer,  meditation 
and  charitable  ministrations.  These  sisters  cared  for  or- 
phans, and  the  aged,  went  out  to  nurse  the  sick,  to  attend 
deathbeds,- — in  short  there  is  perhaps  none  of  the  natural  diaco- 
nical  functions  of  women  which  they  did  not  perform.  Tiiey 
wore  their  own  peculiar  uniform.  This  Beguine  movement. 
really  offers  the  first  complete  realization  of  the  idea  of  a 
collective  female  diacoiiafc,  in  the  sliape  of  free  sisterhoods 
of  women,  and  it  is  very  significant  that  these  institutions  arose 
and  took  root  precisely  in  those  great  cities  of  Northern 
Europe,  the  original  mission  of  its  freedom,  trade  and  indus- 
try, spreading  over  the  low  countries.  North.  Germany. 
Flemish  and  German  France,  Switzerland — almost  the  whole 
range  of  those  populations  over  which  Protestantism  spread 
itseif  tv/o  or  three  centuries  later.  They  were  thoroughly 
evangelical  in  spirit  and  we  can  say  forerunners  of  the  coming- 
reformation. 

5.  There  would  now  remain  to  be  considered  what  efforts 
have'  been  made  by  Protestantism  to  reproduce  the  typical  in- 
stitution of  the  early  Church  towards  the  consecration  of  fe- 
male zeal  and  usefulness  to  the  service  of  the  Church  only  a 
few  hints  will  have  to  suffice.  After  the  restoration  of  the 
Bible  and  scriptural  doctrine  and  the  abolition  of  celibacy,  or 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  135 

in  other  words,  after  the  unmonasticising  of  the  church,  the 
need  of  the  Female  Diaconate  soon  manifests  itself.  Those 
who  are  familiar  with  the  i6th  century  are  aware,  by  how  much 
the  spirit  had  preceded  the  practice  of  religious  reforms ;  how, 
when  all  the  principles  had  been  already  proclaimed  which 
lapped  at  its  base  the  old  Romish  world,  the  fabric  of  that  old 
world  remained  still  standing  and  the  evangelical  doctrine  was 
received  by  and  preached  in  many  a  convent,  without  seemingly 
a  suspicion  that  it  was  soon  to  be  deemed  incompatible  with 
their  existence.  In  1521  when  the  controversy  as  to  celibacy 
was  already  beginning,  we  find  Luther  thus  writing  to  Mel- 
anchthon  in  a  letter  exhibiting  the  struggle  going  on  in  his  own 
mind :  "If  with  a  free  and  evangelical  mind  thou  takest  vows 
and  of  thy  free  will  makest  thyself  a  slave,  it  is  just  that  thou 
do  keep  thy  vows."  Of  the  Beguines  it  is  related  that  they  em- 
braced almost  ever}where  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation. 
Monastic  foundations,  however,  strange  to  say,  subsisted  to  a 
much  later  period  in  connection  with  Lutheranism.  At  the 
same  time  we  notice  the  ever  growing  attempt  to  revive  the 
type  of  the  early  deaconess,  which  finally  led  to  the  great  and 
glorious  work  of  Fliedner  in  Kaiserwerth  and  Loehe  in 
Neue^idettelsau.  It  may  be  interesting  in  this  connection  to 
note  that  our  Pilgrim  Fathers  had  for  a  period  at  least,  their 
ordained  deaconesses,  for  we  find  in  one  of  the  memorials  of 
the  Pilgrim  Fathers  a  description  of  one  of  the  congregations 
wherein  we  are  told  that  there  were  300  communicants,  two 
pastors,  and  teachers,  four  ruling  elders,  three  able  and  Godly 
men  for  deacons,  one  ancient  widow  for  a  deaconess,  who  did 
the  service  for  many  years,  though  she  was  60  years  of  age 
when  she  was  chosen.  "She  honored  her  place  and  was  an  orna- 
ment to  the  congregation ;  she  usually  sat  in  a  convenient  place 
in  the  congregation  with  a  little  birchen  rod  in  her  hand  and 
kept  little  children  in  great  awe  from  disturbing  the  congrega- 
tion; she  did  frequently  visit  the  sick  and  weak,  especially 
wom.en,  and,  as  there  was  need,  called  out  maids  and  old 
women  to  watch  and  do  them  other  help  as  their  necessities 
did  require ;  and  if  they  were  poor,  she  would  gather  relief 
for  theni  or  acquaint  the  deacons  and  she  was  obeyed  a'fe  a 


136  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

mother  in  Israel  and  an  officer  of  Christ.  (Young's  Chroni- 
cles of  Pilgrim  Fathers).  With  the  exception  of  the  "little 
birchen  rod"  and  the  "great  awe  of  little  children," 
puritan  attributes,  of  which  we  tind  no  trace  among  the 
records  of  early  deaconesses — it  must  be  admitted  that  we  find 
here  a  most  faithful  reproduction  of  most  of  the  functions  of 
the  original  office. 

Comparing  the  primitive  institution  of  the  early  Church  with 
the  most  recent  developments  of  the  present  day,  we  are  almost 
tmable  to  find  any  resemblance  between  the  two.  They  seem 
to  be  two  entirely  different  things.  The  female  diaconate  of 
the  early  Church  was  essentially  individual,  whilst  that  of  the 
present  day  is  collective ;  the  diaconate  of  the  early  Church 
had  its  pivot  and  fitting  place  in  the  constitution  of  the  congre- 
gation, whist  that  of  the  present  day  has  to  seek  its  standing 
ground  in  the  principle  of  fellowship, — hence  the  mother- 
house  and  the  sisterhood.  These  motherhouses,  apart  from 
being  the  common  home  of  all  the  individual  members  of  the 
community,  are  at  the  same  time  also  the  school  for  the  train- 
ing of  zvornen  for  the  various  works  of  charity.  Is  this  not 
something  entirely  new  ?  Not  a  restoration  of  the  early  female 
diaconate,  but  a  substitution  of  something  entirely  different 
from  it  ?  And  in  addition  to  this,  must  we  not  ask,  how  far  is 
the  establishment  of  such  an  ecclesiola  in  ecclesia,  of  such  a 
distinct  community  of  sisters  a  lawful  one?  Has  not  Christ 
told  us.  "Ye  are  are  all  brethren"  how  then  can  any  number  of 
men  or  women  say  among  themselves,  ''We  are  brothers, — IVe 
are  sisters?"  Is  that  not  unscriptural,  false  «ind  wrong?  It 
certainly  would  be,  if  the  aim  of  the  community  would  be  to 
make  a  sisterhood  and  n.ot  to  manifest  one.  If  those  who 
thus  call  themselves  sisters  do  so  in  no  spirit  of  exclusion  to- 
wards the  others,  but  simply  to  show  the  many  the  reality  of 
that  large  family  of  which  they  are  called  to  be  members  and 
to  glorify  and  better  the  name  of  that  elder  brother,  Who  hath 
sealed  the  covenant  of  adoption  with  His  blood — then  they  are 
not  oljjectionable.  but  rathei  help  to  strengthen  and 
develop  the  universal  brotherhood  of  the  Church  and  to  afford 
a  Ijeautiful  witness  for  its  truth.  But,  let  us  add :  they  will 
bear  that  witness  just  in  ])roportion  as  they  do  not  seek  their 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  137 

perfection  in  themselves,  but  out  of  themselves ;  as,  instead  of 
raising  walls  of  adamant  between  the  sisterhood  on  the  one  hand 
and  the  great  world  without  on  the  other,  they  on  contrary 
devote  the  whole  strength  of  their  united  efforts  continually 
towards  promoting  the  regeneration  of  the  outer  world  through 
all  works  of  self-sacrifice  and  love. 

And  as  regards  the  other  criticism  that  the  female  diaconate 
in  its  present  development  is  something  new  and  entirely  dif- 
ferent from  the  typical  individual  deaconess  of  the  early 
Church,  we  freely  admit  that  the  present  foi'vi  is  new,  but 
maintain  that  the  office  is  essentially  the  same — our  present 
parish  deaconess  being  almost  identical  with  the  one  of  the 
early  Church.  The  present  system  of  a  sisterhood  with  a 
motherhouse  as  centre  and  nursery  is — it  seems  to  us — a  neces- 
sary and  happy  adaptation  to  the  needs  and  circumstances  of 
the  present  day.  Such  adaptation  we  find  in  all  the  various 
departments  of  our  present  Church  life  and  its  working  agen- 
cies— neither  our  Bible  Societies,  nor  our  Missionary  Societies, 
nor  our  Ladies  Societies  can  trace  their  pedigree  to  the  Apos- 
tles nor  yet  to  the  early  Reformers. 

But  before  concluding  I  dare  not  forget  that  my  subject  is, 
'The  Historic  Deaconess  Work  and  American  Conditions." 
This  brings  us  from  the  past  to  the  present,  from  foreign  lands 
to  our  own  country,  and  the  matter  before  us  at  once  ceases  to 
be  an  academical  discussion,  it  comes  home  to  our  immediate 
personal  interest — as  a  subject  of  vital  and  practical  impor- 
tance. The  evangelical  deaconess  has  come  over  to  invade  and 
conquer  the  new  world.  Hers  is  a  peaceful  conquest  and  no 
breach  of  the  Monroe  doctrine  is  involved.  We  hail  her  advent 
and  wish  her  God-speed.  We  need  her  to  supplement  our 
forces. 

The  Church  of  God  has  several  offices,  several  classes  of 
duties.  She  has  the  prophetic  office.  She  is  sent  to  preach  the 
word,  to  teach  the  truth,  to  illuminate  and  guide  mankind. 
But  this  is  but  one  of  her  offices.  Together  with  the  prophetic 
she  has  also  the  diaconical  office,  quite  as  important  and  ab- 
solutely necessary  in  our  day.  I  can't  help  but  feel  that  this 
other  office  has  been  to  some  extent  ignored  by  our  Church  in 


188  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

our  time  and  country.  The  prophetic  office  has  been  magni- 
fied to  the  dwarfing  of  the  other.  The  duty  of  preaching  the 
word  has  been  dwelt  upon  to  the  exteiit  ahnost  of  forgetting 
other  practical  duties,  which  in  all  the  world's  history  were 
never  before  so  urgent.  This  has  given  our  Lutheran  Church 
an  appearance  of  one-sidedness.  She  appears  as  the  great 
champion  of  orthodoxy,  maintaining  the  faith  once  delivered 
unto  the  saints.  Heroic  work  has  been  done  in  this  respect.  The 
clash  of  sharp  weapons  has  been  heard  and  is  still  heard  in  the 
vigorous  theological  and  dogmatical  discussions.  These  ex- 
ploits have  been  necessary.  They  are  one  of  the  blessed  lega- 
cies of  our  great  Reformer,  who  has  given  to  the  w  ird  the  best 
things  any  man  can  give — ideas — thoughts  of  truth  and  right- 
eousness. These  truths  are  of  the  most  awful  import.  Rut 
is  the  Church  of  God  to  deal  with  them  alone?  Are  they  not 
awfully  important  for  the  very  reason,  that  they  are  to  be 
translated  into  acts^  Was  not  our  own  Luther  preeminently 
a  man  of  action,  who  solidified  his  thoughts  into  deeds  and  his 
faith  into  works?  and  if  we  look  to  the  apostolic  age,  we  find, 
it  is  true,  the  church  in  the  amplest  exercise  of  her  prophetic 
office.  She  magnified  that  office.  She  made  it  of  first  import- 
ance. She  proclaimed  God's  truths  with  all  her  might.  But 
she  did  more  than  this.  She  was  not  only  an  organization  for 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  but  likewise  was  a  charitable  or- 
ganization for  carrying  out  into  visible  result  the  principles  she 
proclaimed  and  the  law  of  love  she  preached.  She  addressed 
men's  eyes  as  well  as  their  ears.  She  proclaimed  a  concrete, 
embodied  truth.  She  herself  was  a  divine  epistle,  a  holy  evan- 
gel "known  and  read  of  all  men."  We  know,  she  preached  and 
taught,  but  the  preaching,  which  had  the  great  efifect,  which 
so  rapidly  overcame  heathenism,  which  won  her  triumph  from 
fire  and  rack  and  block,  was  the  visible  preaching  of  her  chari- 
ty, her  divine  love  and  pity  toward  mankind.  So  she  stood 
amid  the  vileness  of  heathenism — teaching  and  preaching? 
Aye,  but  doing  also,  proclaiming  the  Gospel  as  an  embodied, 
living  truth,  visibly,  with  both  her  hands ; — both  offices  being 
beautifully  and  harmoniously  united ;  the  prophetic  as  well  as 
the  diaconical. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  139 

Oh  would  tliat  these  two  offices  could  once  more  be  united 
as  the  two  great  working  agencies  of  our  Church  in  the  new- 
world.  We  live  in  a  practical  age.  The  American  people  are 
a  practical  people.  There  is  a  way  to  preach  Christ  in  this 
land  that  must  prove  effective.  It  is  idle  to  sneer  at  humani- 
tarianism,  or  to  dwell  on  purity  of  doctrine,  as  if  that  were 
all.  The  church  that  visits  the  sick,  comforts  the  sorrowing, 
cares  for  the  widows  and  fatherless  and  preaches  the  Gospel 
to  the  poor,  is  the  Church  which  the  American  people  will  con- 
fess to  be  the  real  Bride  of  Christ.  We  cannot  wonder  at  its 
judgment.  It  has  no  better  rule  than  the  Loi-ds:  "Ye  shall 
know  them  by  their  fruits."  The  world  has  become  almost 
deaf  to  words.  But  if  not  ears,  it  has  eyes.  It  can  see  a  visi- 
ble Gospel — and  one  of  the  most  beautiful  representations  of 
visible  Christianity  is  the  evangelical  Deaconess  in  her  quiet 
and  self-sacrificing  work  of  Christian  benevolence.  The  theo- 
logical seminaries  and  the  mofherhouses  of  Deasonesses  should 
be  looked  upon  as  the  two  great  nurseries  of  our  Church,  the 
training  schools  of  our  principal  zvqrkers,  the  one  pursuing  the 
prophetic  the  other  the  diaconical  office. 

We  are  considering  our  American  conditions.  American 
soil  is  a  peculiar  soil.  The  greatest  danger  threatening  the 
development  of  the  Female  Diaconate  in  this  country  would  be 
the  utterly  false  notion  as  though  a  deaconess  could  be  or 
should  be  a  female  evangelist,  an  engine  of  religious  propa- 
gandism  instead  of  confining  herself  to  the  one  cardinal  office, 
that  of  practically  setting  forth  that  faith  which  is  "shewn  by 
works,"  which  "worketh  by  love."  Let  her  convert  by  ex- 
ample, that  is  enough.  A  Christian  deacones.'-.  should  be  obed- 
ient, should  be  humble,  should  be  a  servant.  We  must  expect 
that  this  conception  will  be  largely  criticized  as  "un-American." 
That  matters  not,  as  long  as  it  is  scriptural.  We  must  send 
out  deaconesses,  who  will  make  their  environment  more  nearly 
what  it  should  be,  not  such,  v/ho  will  yield  to  and  are  moulded 
by  the  environment  in  which  they  find  themselves. 

It  cannot  be  denied,  that  the  female  diaconate  in  its  present 
form  is  an  importation  from  the  Fatherland.  It  is  in  our 
opinion  of  utmost  importance,  that  our  few  sisters  here  in  the 


140  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

world  should  entertain  the  most  intimate  relations  with  the 
tens  of  thousand  on  the  other  side  of  the  great  ocean,  learning 
by  their  experience,  asking  for  their  advice,  and  being  en- 
couraged by  their  example.  Such  a  relation  will  prove  most 
salutary,  will  protect  from  many  foolish  experiments  and  en- 
sure a  steady,  healthy  growth. 

On  the  other  hand  we  are  satisfied  that  whilst  remaining 
essentially  the  same  with  those  of  the  Fatherland,  our  sister- 
hoods will,  in  the  course  of  time,  develope  their  own  peculiar 
American  traits,  their  own  individuality.  We  do  not  want  an 
exact  reproduction  of  that  which  is  European,  but  rather  a 
healthy,  spontaneous  evolution.  As  the  honey  of  Madeira  has 
the  taste  of  violets  and  that  of  Rome  of  Roses  and  as  the  wines 
of  different  climes  have  all  the  peculiar  aroma  of  the  land  on 
which  they  grew — so  also  is  the  kingdom  of  God.  Let  us  sow 
our  seed  in  faith  and  let  God  give  a  body  as  it  shall  please  Him, 
and  to  every  seed  its  own  body.  We  are  confronted  on  this 
side  of  the  Atlantic  not  only  with  theories,  but  with  conditions, 
with  American  conditions,  and  to  take  these  into  account  and 
adapt  ourselves  to  our  surroundings,  as  far  as  it  is  possible, 
without  sacrificing  principle, — this  in  our  opinion  only  proves 
good,  sanctified  American  common  sense.  In  this  respect  we 
can  learn  great  lessons  from  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
which  studies  carefully  American  life  and  conditions  and  then 
suits. herself  to  such  conditions  with  an  adaptabirty,  whicli  is 
simply  amazing,  knowing  of  course  that  in  this  country  she 
has  no  adventitious  aids  to  rely  upon,  that  here  her  institutions 
stand  exposed  to  the  fierest  glare  of  public  scrutiny  and  must 
rely  solely  on  their  practical  worth. 

Speaking  of  American  conditions,  I  dare  not  neglect  to 
speak  one  word  regarding  that  one  great  difficulty  that  con- 
fronts us  in  all  working  agencies  of  our  Lutheran  Church 
here  in  the  nev\'  world,  and  that  is  the  language  question.  It 
is  related  that  a  lugh  priest  in  India  made^this  remark:  "Of 
tv/o  things  I  am  certain,  and  the  third  is  yet  doubtful.  I  ann 
certain  that  I  shall  be  no  Christian,  f  am  likewise  certain,  that 
iny  grandchild  will  be  a  Christian — doubtful  alor.c  is  what  my 
son  will  do."     You  understand,  what  I  mean  to  sav.     There  is 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE,  I'll 

no  doubt,  that  our  grand-children  at  least  will  S])eak  English, 
perhaps  only  English,  and  as  enthusiastically  as  I  champion 
the  German,  still  I  must  confess  that  in  building  up  the  great 
deaconess-work  of  our  Church  in  this  country,  due  attention 
should  be  paid  to  the  requirements  of  the  future.  To  the  En- 
glish I  would  say :  Do  not  destroy  the  German,  there  is  a 
blessing  in  it — a  great  conservative  force,  a  living  link  between 
the  glorious  past  and  the  promising  future  and  go  where  you 
please,  you  will  find  that  at  the  present  time  the  most  and  the 
best  deaconesses  are  German.  To  the  Geniian  brethren  I 
would  say :  Do  not  fear  the  English — if  they  are  only  English 
Lutheran  then  they  cannot  help  to  be  at  heart  good  Germans ! 

The  female  diaconate  as  represented  by  Kaiserswerth  Neuen- 
dettelsau  and  recently  also  in  its  first  beginnings  in  this  our 
countr}-  and  in  this  city  is  exactly  the  thing  which  our  Luth- 
eran Clvarch  must  have  to  cope  with  the  difficult  work  of  the 
present  day.  We  can  no  longer  rest  satisfied  with  the  dry 
schemes  of  ladies  societies  and  committees,  with  the  casual 
labors  of  women  otherwise  engaged,  bestowing  on  the  church 
the  mere  crumbs  of  their  leisure,  taking  up  the  work  and  put- 
ting it  down  again  in  a  haphazard  way — sometimes  as  a  means 
of  introducing  themslves  into  a  particular  society.  Give  us,  oh, 
good  Lord,  give  us  a  female  diaconate  devoted  freely  and  whol- 
ly to  this  most  important  work ;  a  female  diaconate,  prepared 
and  educated  for  the  work  and  solemnly  consecrated  to  it  b>- 
the  invoking  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  has  already  been  a  blessing 
to  us  and  needs  but  a  franker  and  more  general  recognition 
and  a  more  enthusiastic  support  at  the  hands  of  loyal  Luther- 
ans, to  bear  vet  more  abundent  fruit! 


REMARKS. 


The  Rev.  Dr.  Spaeth  said : — 

What  are,  in  particular,  the  American  conditions  under 
which  we  have  to  take  up  and  to  carry  on  the  deaconess  work 
in  this  country? 

In  the  first  place,  we  have  here  the  system  of  the  Free 
Church,  in  distinction  from  the  State  Church  svstem  in  Ger- 


142  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

many  and  Skandinavia.  The  Church  in  America,  as  organized 
in  her  Synods  and  General  Bodies  covers  every  field  of  asso- 
ciated Christian  activity,  particularly  those  important  fields 
of  Foreign  and  Inner  Missions,  which,  in  Europe  are  left  to 
voluntary  associations  of  individuals.  While  in  Europe  the 
formal  and  proper  connection  between  the  Deaconess  cause 
and  the  official  representatives  and  authorities  of  the 
Church  has  thus  far  been  a  problem  which  is  still  waiting  for 
its  satisfactory  solution,  our  Deaconess  institutions  in  America, 
from  the  very  outset,  have  been  seeking  proper  recognition 
and  formal  connection  with  the  ecclesiastical  bodies.  This  is 
the  case  even  in  those  institutions  which  are  originally  private 
undertakings  of  individuals  or  associations.  The  General 
S}nod  has,  thus  far.  been  most  consistent  in  establishing  its 
whole  Deaconess  work  in  full  official  connection  with  the  or- 
ganized church,  by  the  appointment  of  a  Deaconess  Board  to 
whom  the  management  of  the  whole  work  is  committed. 

A  second  point  to  be  considered  under  "American  Condi- 
tions" is  the  character  of  woman  in  America.  Her  peculiar 
gifts  of  aggressiveness  and  adaptability  seem  to  me  most  prom- 
ising for  the  establishment  and  expansion  of  the  Deaconess 
work  on  this  continent,  provided  that  they  are  properly  bal- 
anced and  disciplined  by  the  strict,  systematic,  almost  military 
training  such  as  the  Motherhouse  aflfords. 

Again,  the  peculiar  "American  conditions"  under  which  we 
are  undertaking  the  Deaconess  work  in  this  country,  suggest 
the  possibility,  even  probability,  that  hospital  nursing  will  not 
be  the  most  important  and  prominent  feature  of  our  Deaconess 
work  of  the  future.  The  "Trained  Nurse"  who  is  so  much  in 
evidence  in  our  American  hospitals,  and  for  whose  systematic 
education  so  much  is  being  done  may  sooner  or  later  crowd  the 
deaconess  out  of  hospital  work,  at  least  in  such  institutions  as 
are  not  directly  under  the  control  of  the  Church.  But  we  need 
not  be  alarmed  at  this  prospect.  It  would  naturally  have  the 
happy  result  of  confining  the  deaconess  to  her  proper  sphere, 
the  ministry  of  mercy  in  the  Church  itself,  parish  work,  the 
caring  for  the  little  ones,  the  orphans,  the  poor,  teaching  the 
young,  etc. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  143 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Manhart  said: — 

The  position  of  the  Deaconess  connected  with  the  Mother- 
house  of  the  General  Synod  has  been  clearly  defined.  Hers  is 
an  office  of  helpful  service  in  the  Church.  Her  office  is  as 
definitely  established  at  that  of  the  minister  of  the  Word.  She 
is  "set  apart"  or  "consecrated"  to  her  office  by  men  represent- 
ing the  Church.  This  service  is  to  her  the  equivalent  of  or- 
dination to  the  minister.  Her  work  and  position  are  for  her 
as  important,  and  demand  as  great  fidelity,  as  the  office  of  the 
Christian  ministry  for  the  man. 

Her  duties  and  her  relations  are  by  no  means  identical  with 
those  of  the  minister  of  the  Word  and  sacraments.  They  are 
womanly  duties  and  relations  while  they  are  also  churchly. 
The  deaconess  is  a  Church  official.  As  such  she 
pTedges~'confomu"ty  to  the  Church's  doctrinal  basis  and  its 
principles.  Tlie  Motherhouse  corresponds  in  large  measure 
to  the  theological  seminary,  so  that  in  addition  to  being  a  home 
of  probationers  and  deaconesses,  and  a  centre  from  which  la- 
borers are  sent  to  out  stations,  it  must  also  be  a  training  school 
in  biblical  and  churchly  learning,  in  true  piety,  and  in  practical 
ability  in  the  varied  duties  of  active  service  they  are  to  render  in 
the  Church.  Christ  Himself  is  the  model  of  all  true  diaconate  ser- 
vice. In  the  Church  the  female  diaconate  is  an  office  and  min- 
istry of  kindly,  helpful  and  merciful  ministry  in  the  name  and 
spirit  of  Christ.  Its  complete  establishment  among  us  will  be 
a  vast  addition  to  the  Church's  working  power. 


THE  MOVEMENT  FROM  ROMANISM  TO  LUTHER- 
ANISM  IN  AUSTRIA. 

By  the  Rev.  Carl  Goedel. 
Our  God  is  a  God  that  hideth  Himself.  We  find  the  proof 
of  rhis  in  His  manner  of  dealing  with  men  and  with  His  King- 
dom. Often  it  is  His  good  pleasure  to  let  His  faithful  ones 
cast  the  net  for  months  and  years  without  success, — to  plow 
and  ^ow  and  yet  reap  nothing.  At  such  times  His  servants  bow 
in  humble  and  patient  submission,  and  await  the  coming  of  His 
grace.  But  there  are  also  times  when  He  mercifully  puts  forth 
His  mighty  hand,  and  performs  visible  wonders  where  man  had 


144  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

done  a^id  planned  nothing,  and  even  failed  in  many  things.  Into 
such  a  niarvelously  ripe  field  I  ask  the  brethren  to  follow  me 
for  a  little  while. 

Our  path  leads  to  Austria, — into  a  land  where  once  the  ma- 
jority of  the  inhabitants  adhered  to  the  Gospel  and  to  the  doc- 
trines of  Luther,  and  where,  in  the  single  city  of  Prague  thir- 
ty-five Lutheran  pastors  were  stationed  as  late  as  the  beginning 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  Then  came  the  Jesuits  and  won 
the  entire  country  for  Rome,  exterminated  Protestantism  by 
the  aid  of  the  civil  authorities,  inflicted  horrible  cruelties  on 
men  and  women,  on  the  aged  and  on  children,  and  killed,  tor- 
tured and  exiled  the  flower  of  the  country.  The  light  of  the 
Gospell  seemed  to  be  entirely  extinguished,  evangelical  services 
were  no  longer  permitted,  houses  were  ransacked  for  Bibles, 
catechisms  and  Lutheran  hymn-books ;  and  owners  of  such  were 
severely  punished.  The  Church  of  the  Gospel  was  dead,  but 
not  the  potencies  of  the  Gospel.  In  the  homes  of  peasants  and 
burghers,  these  quietly  brought  forth  fragrant  blossoms,  and 
kept  many  a  faithful  man,  many  a  believing  woman  true  to 
the  faith  of  the  fathers.  By  these  the  pure  doctrine  was  silent- 
ly perpetuated  through  many  generations.  After  1781.  in  which 
vear  the  edict  of  toleration  was  issued  by  Joseph  II.  evangeli- 
cal worship,  could  again  be  held  under  certain  restrictions. 
Thus,  in  a  small  way,  an  evangelical  church  was  revived,  and 
in  the  larger  towns  congregations  of  the  Augsburg  and  the 
Helvetic  Confessions  were  fori^-icd,  to  which  the  present  em- 
peror has  granted  substantial  rights  and  privileges.  Never- 
theless with  the  Roman  Catholic  Confession,  and  papal.  Epis- 
copal and  priestly  influences  everywhere  dominant,  the  Church 
of  the  pure  Word  and  Sacraments  was  merely  tolerated,  and 
remained  a  feeble  and  oppressed  body.  Exclusive  of  Hungarw 
there  are  in  Austria  450.000  Protestants,  300,000  of  whom  ad- 
here to  the  Augsburg  Confession,  and  are  therefore  our 
brethren  in  the  faith.  Less  than  two  per  cent,  of  the  total 
population  is  therefore  Protestant.  While  the  large  land-hold- 
ers all  belong  to  the  Catholic  nobility,  and  the  immense  estates 
and  wealth  of  the  monasteries  are  the  possession  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  our  Church  on  the  contrary,  is  poor.     This 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  145 

poverty  makes  itself  felt  very  especially  as  regards  the  support 
of  the  pastors  and  schools.  Along-side  of  the  public  schools, 
which  of  course  are  Romish,  the  Protestants  are  permitted  to 
have  their  own  schools.  These,  however,  must  be  maintained 
at  private  expense :  and  as  a  result  the  number  of  such  schools 
has  steadily  declined. 

Such  were  the  conditions  existing  in  the  needy,  vanishing, 
small  Evangelical  Church  when,  in  the  year  1898.  in  a  gather- 
ing of  students,  the  cry  was  raised  "Away  from  Rome,"  and 
a  movement  which  had  already  been  quietly  fermenting,  was 
inaugurated,  that,  over  against  the  Slavo-Roman  sympathies 
of  the  domineering  clergy,  set  in  motion  national  aspirations, 
which  found  a  hearty  response,  especially  among  the  more  cul- 
tured classes  of  Bohemia  and  Steiermark.  On  the  ground  that 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  the  greatest  enemy  of  true 
culture,  politico-national  agitators  urged  separation  from  it  with 
considerable  success.  But  this  politico-national  movement  away 
fron-,  Rome  and  the  Romish  Church  was  only  the  impulse  to 
a  far  more  powerful  movement  fanned  into  life  by  God.  The 
majority  of  those  who  left  the  Church  still  carried  with  them 
so  much  of  the  religious  spirit  of  their  ancestors,  that  they  did 
not  wish  to  remain  without  a  Church  connection  ;  and,  in  accor- 
dance v\ath  their  German-national  sympathies,  they  chose  the 
most  German  man  that  ever  lived.  Dr.  Martin  Luther.  He  be- 
came their  hero,  and  next  to  that  of  Bismark.  no  name  was 
so  frequently  mentioned  as  that  of  our  Reformer.  But  his 
translation  of  the  Bible,  his  writings  and  especially  his  Cate- 
chism also  found  their  way  into  the  country,  to  deliver  from 
error  and  bring  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth  those,  who  in  their 
search  after  God,  had  never  found  real  satisfaction  in  the 
Church  of  Rome,  and  who,  as  persons  of  culture,  and  as  is 
also  usual  in  South  America,  Spain,  Italy,  France  and  Bel- 
gium, had  turned  away  entirely  from  the  Church  and  hence 
also  from  God  and  His  Son  Jesus  Christ.  I  had  read  of  men, 
and  in  my  visit  to  Bohemia  met  with  such,  who  for  years  had 
not  gone  to  church,  because  disgusted  with  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic cultus  and  priesthood,  but  who  now,  since  they  have  found 


146  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

the  Gospel  as  set  forth  by  Luther  and  our  Church,  never  miss 
a  service,  stand  in  the  front  rank  of  Rome's  antagonists  and  of 
those  most  active  in  the  building  of  the  True  Zion,  give  large 
sums  of  money  for  the  support  of  the  Church  of  the  Augs- 
burg Confession,  and  devote  all  their  spare  time  to  the  work  of 
church  councils  and  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel.  Mer- 
chants, lawyers  and  railroad  officials  carry  New  Testaments 
and  tracts  with  them.  That  everywhere  they  may  spread  the 
Gospel  and  may  also  bring  peace  to  their  brethren  by  convinc- 
ing them  from  the  Scriptures. 

The  most  prominent  layman  in  the  movement  is  the  attor- 
ney. Dr.  Anton  Eisenkolb  in  Karbitz.  a  man  who  loves  his  na- 
tive land  with  all  his  heart,  -a  very  poor  Catholic,  but  a  good 
patriot.  He  was  one  of  the  first  of  those  who  for  national 
reasons  forsook  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  He  became  ac- 
quainted with  pastors  and  laymen  in  Germany,  read  the  Bible 
and  Luther's  writings,  and  turned  with  an  undivided  heart 
from  a  life  without  God  and  a  Saviour  to  the  (iod  and  Father 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Before  a  meeting  of  five  thousand 
people,  assembled  to  protest  against  clericalism,  I  myself  heard 
him  give  such  sterling  testimony  for  Christ,  the  only  begotten 
Son  of  God,  as  I  have  rarely  heard  from  the  lips  of  a  layman. 
And  one  of  his  political  friends,  Avho  has  not  yet  embraced  the 
Ciospel,  said  to  me:  "Dr.  Eisenkolb  cannot  speak  three  sen- 
tences in  public  without  making  mention  of  'His  Lord  Jesus 
Christ'  or  the  Gospel."  This  man,  after  his  acceptance  of  the 
Evangelical  faith,  and  after  he  had  made  many  stirring  ad- 
dresses in  all  parts  of  the  country  against  the  power  and  cun- 
ning of  Rome,  was  elected  to  the  Austrian  Parliament  by  a 
vote  of  80,000,  in  a  Roman  Catholic  district  that  contains  at 
most  not  over  2,000  Protestant  men.  This  proves  to  what  an 
extent  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  sufifered  the  loss  of 
confidence  in  Bohemia,  where  it  ruled  the  people  with  an  iron 
hand,  and  yet  since  the  days  of  Huss  and  the  Bohemian  breth- 
ren failed  to  convince  them  of  the  truth  of  its  teachings. 

The  following  quotation  from  an  address  which  Dr.  Eisen- 
kolb made  in  the  Austrian  Parliament,  in  February,  1901,  will 
serve  to  show  the  character  of  the  man :  "We  accepted  the 
new  confession  as  a  matter  of  inner  conviction  ;  and,  in  order 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  147 

that  we  might  make  no  mistake,  we  studied  Luther's  Catech- 
ism, we  again  learned  to  pray,  our  hearts  again  opened  to 
Christian  truth,  and  they  belong  to  Jesus,  the  Saviour.  We 
allows  no  one,  not  even  a  minister,  to  stand  between  us  and  our 
God  and  Soviour.  We  take  pleasure  in  the  conflict  for  true 
Christianity,  for  the  Gospel,  because  with  our  whole  heart  we 
are  devoted  to  our  Saviour."  In  view  of  such  a  testimony 
what  must  be  thought  of  the  oft-repeated  Romish  falsehood 
that  the  movement  awa}'  from  Rome  has  nothing  at  all  to  do 
with  religion — a  statement  that  was  at  first  also  believed  among 
us?  How  can  the  lie  uttered  by  priests  and  bishops,  that  sep- 
aration from  Rome  means  separation  from  Christ  and  God, 
continue  to  deceive,  in  the  face  of  such  a  testimony  from  a 
man  wdio  has  hundreds  of  like  mind  behind  him  ? 

By  personal  observation  I  have  become  convinced  that  in 
Bohemia,  where  the  movement  is  strongest,  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church  has  completely  lost  its  power,  and  that  the  masses 
are  only  awaiting  their  opportunity  to  forsake  it  and  to  strike 
out  for  themselves.  The  more  than  20,000,  that  in  constantly 
growing  numbers  have  in  the  last  few  years  come  over  to  the 
Protestant  Church,  are  only  the  beginning  of  a  multitude  ten- 
fold larger,  who,  in  all  parts  of  the  Austrian  Empire,  are  almost 
ready  to  make  the  change,  if  only  they  can  be  given  the  guar- 
antee that  they  will  again  be  provided  with  a  church  building, 
a  cemetery,  and  a  school.  Any  one,  who,  like  these  Austrians, 
has  for  a  long  time  been  under  Rome's  rule,  is  at  least  church- 
ly,  even  if  not  religious  in  our  sense,  and  is  therefore  not  so 
ready  to  give  up  the  venerable  and  beautiful  usages  to  which  he 
was  accustomed.  I  often  read  and  have  often  heard  it  said : 
"As  soon  as  the  Evangelicals  move  from  a  hall  to  a  church  edi- 
fice, I  will  not  wait  long  to  connect  myself  with  the  Lutheran 
Church." 

But  where  our  God  builds  Zion  with  such  wonderful  speed, 
fiis  colaborers  have  many  and  important  dvities  laid  upon  them. 
So  rapid  was  the  increase  which  He  gave  the  several  congre- 
gations and  the  entire  Austrian  church,  that  there  were  neither 
pastors,  churches,  nor  chapels  at  hand  to  care  for  those  who 
came.     They,  therefore,  turned  to  their  brethren  in  the  faith, 


148  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

first  of  all  to  those  in  Germany.  And  there,  love  did  much  for 
them.  Thus,  e.  g.  the  Evangelical  Union  ("Evang.  Bund") 
pays  the  salary  of  forty-six  newly-appointed  vicars ;  the  Gustav 
Adolf  Society  rendered  financial  assistance  in  the  building  of 
more  than  fifty  churches,  chapels  and  school  houses ;  and  a  sin- 
gle resolution  of  the  "Bund"  directed  that  $40,000  be  paid  to 
congregations  in  Austria.  An  intense  desire  to  help  the  breth- 
ren in  the  dispersion  has  taken  possession  of  the  theological 
youth  of  Germany ;  and  many  a  noble  brother  is  already  in 
the  field,  laboring  with  self-denying  zeal,  and  constantly  ex- 
posed to  the  danger  of  being  exiled  by  the  civil  authorities 
which  are  altogether  under  Romish  influence,  or  else  running* 
the  risk  of  physical  violence  to  himself  and  his  flock,  such  as 
one  of  the  friends  I  made  in  Bohemia  experienced  last  fall. 
And  yet  this  very  person  assured  me  that  it  was  his  greatest 
joy  to  bring  God's  Word  and  Sacrament  to  souls  that  were  so 
earnest  in  their  search,  and  so  ready  to  make  sacrifices  with 
him.  Where  there  is  such  love  and  such  honest  zeal  the  need 
for  personal  helpers  will  no  doubt  be  relieved ;  but  financial 
aid  will  be  required  in  increasing  measure  for  many  years  to 
come. 

Three  years  ago  our  newly-won  brethren  already  appealed 
to  our  Church  in  America.  Their  cry  for  help  found  a  re- 
sponse in  the  German  Philadelphia  Conference  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Synod.  Upon  presentation  of  the  cause  in  Church  papers 
and  before  a  number  of  congregations  $400  was  placed  at  my 
disposal.  On  my  visit  to  Germany  last  summer,  I  went  to  Bo- 
hemia, and  there  learned  to  know  a  number  of  new  congrega- 
tions by  "personal  observation,  for  the  purpose  of  distributing 
among  them,  by  direction  of  our  Synod,  the  sum  of  $330.  It 
was  not  my  wish  to  pay  this  sum  into  one  of  the  large  relief 
funds,  but  rather  to  establish  personal  relations  with  the  bretli- 
ren.  And  in  this  I  was  entirely  successful.  I  expected  much, 
but  found  a  great  deal  more ;  namely,  wide  awake,  intelligen]:, 
self-possessed  and  positive  leaders  of  the  movement,  pastors  and 
church  officers  burning  with  love  to  their  Lord  and  their  breth- 
ren, and  hundreds  of  men  and  women  who  in  the  fervency  of 
their  love,  in  the  steadfastness  of  their  faith,  in  willingness  to 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  149 

sacrifice,  in  devotion  to  God's  Word,  in  zeal  for  God's  house, 
and  in  their  efforts  to  win  others  into  the  Lord's  vineyard,  re- 
minded one  of  Apostolic  days.  In  the  congregation  at  Klos- 
tergrab,  where,  in  the  year  1617,  under  the  lead  of  a  bishop, 
the  Lutheran  church  was  stormed  and  burned  by  a  mob  of 
Romanists.  I  saw.  almost  finished,  the  neat  little  church  in 
which  upwards  of  200  men  and  women,  residing  in  a  place 
that  only  three  years  ago  was  entire!}'  Catholic,  will  gather  to 
thank  God  for  the  grace  vouchsafed  in  a  pure  Gospel.  I  there 
attended  a  meeting  of  several  hundred  people,  the  majority  of 
whom  still  belong-  to  the  Catholic  church,  who  listened  most 
eargerly  and  without  a  sign  of  weariness,  from  8.30  p.  m.  to 
midnight  to  what  was  told  them  of  the  excellence  of  the  Luth- 
eran faith.  Among  them  was  a  miner  of  seventy-three  years, 
v.ho  connected  with  the  Lutheran  church  two  years  ago,  and 
who  is  by  his  pastor  called  the  Hans  Sachs  of  his  congregation, 
because  he  writes  hymns  in  a  popular  vein  which  celebrate  the 
mighty  acts  of  God  in  these  days.  At  the  close  of  the  meeting 
he  rose  and  asked  me  to  carry  greetings  to  the  brethren  in 
America.  "Pray  for  us,  and  think  of  us,"  he  said,  "as  we  pray 
for  you."  This  greeting.  I  today  also  bring  to  this  assembly  of 
Lutherans,  with  the  request  not  to  forget  the  needs  of  our  new 
fellow-believers.  T  will  gratefully  receive  small  and  large  con- 
tributions. Let  me  also  urge  upon  the  pastors  to  interest 
themselves  in  this  matter,  and  to  make  it  known  to  their  con- 
gregations. 

May  the  Lord  strengthen.  ])reserve  and  increase  the  Luth- 
eran Cluirch  in  Austria! 


A    NATIVE    MINISTRY    FOR   CONGREGATIONS    IN 
FOREIGN  FIELDS. 

By  flic  Rev.  J.  H.  Harpster,  D.  D. 
The  need  of  a  native  ministry  for  congregations  in  the  for- 
eign, field  needs  no  discussion.  It  is  self-evident.  Any  one 
can  see  that  a  native  ministry  is  just  as  important  to  the  growth 
and  development  of  the  church  in  the  foreign  as  in  the  home 
^.eld.  For  the  sake  of  distinction,  we  speak  of  it  as  the  "foreign 
■5eld"  here :  it  is  the  home  field  there. 


150  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

Still,  granted  a  native  ministry,  there  is  considerable  differ- 
ence of  opinion  among  equally  capable  and  experienced  mis- 
sionaries in  regard  to  such  points,  say,  as  the  conditions  which 
should  govern  the  placing  of  a  native  ministry  over  congre- 
gations, the  amount  of  liberty  and  independent  action  which 
should  be  given  to  it,  to  what  extent  it  should  be  kept  under  the 
control  of  the  foreign  missionary,  and  other  matters  of  like 
character  connected  with  the  subject.  No  doubt  there  is 
enough  difference  of  opinion  on  these  points  to  furnish  matter 
for  a  paper. 

In  estimating  the  development  and  strength  of  a  mission, 
nothing  is  of  more  importance  than  a  knowledge  of  the  native 
agency  which  it  has  created  and  which  engages  in  its  work. 
Missions  develop  in  complexity  of  organization  as  they  increase 
in  size.  At  its  beginning,  a  mission  is  necessarily  a  very  simple 
affair.  It  consists  merely  of  one  or  more  missionaries  surround- 
ed by  a  handful  of  Christians,  and  assisted  by  a  very  few  na- 
tives in  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  message  to  the  heathen 
masses.  As  the  work  grows,  the  native  agency  grows,  or  ought 
to  grow :  and  the  one  grows,  and  can  grow,  only  as  the  other 
does — no  faster,  no  slower.  That  is  the  law.  The  mission 
which  fails  in  developing  a  truly  converted,  devoted  native 
ministry,  fails  as^  mission. 

There  is,  therefore,  no  subject  relating  to  mission  economics 
more  important  than  the  raising  up  of  a  well-equipped  spirit- 
ually, morally,  intellectually,  indigenous  ministry.  •  For,  es- 
sential as  foreign  missionaries  are  to  begin  missions,  and  for 
a  time  at  least  to  direct  them,  a  native  ministry  by  its  gifts, 
its  numbers,  vernacular  speech,  knowledge  of  native  charac- 
ter, ability  to  live  and  labor  in  their  own  country  at  compara- 
tively small  expense,  has  great  advantages  over  the  foreign 
missionary.  The  intelligent,  philosophic  view  of  missions, 
therefore,  is  that  which  is  ever  looking  forward  to  the  time, 
and  making  preparation  for  it,  when  the  foreign  workers  will 
decrease  and  their  place  be  occupied  by  an  efficient  native 
force. 

In  pursuing  this  line  of  mission  policy,  we  are  clearly  fol- 
lowing that  of  the  early  church.     We  cannot,  therefore,  be  in 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  151 

error  in  adopting  it.  The  history  of  the  early  church  shows 
that  it  was  the  custom  of  the  Apostles  to  select  from  among 
their  converts  approved  men,  to  lay  hands  on  them  and  ordain 
them  to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  We  read  that  they  "or- 
dained them  elders  in  every  church."  Paul  writes  to  his  young 
disciple,  Titus,  that  the  object  he  had  in  view  in  leaving  him  in 
Crete  was  that  he  "should  set  in  order  the  things  that  were 
wanting,  and  ordain  elders  in  every  city  as  he  had  appointed 
him."  Many  other  passages  could  be  cited  to  the  same  effect. 
Evidently,  to  their  way  of  thinking,  it  did  not  require  a  quarter 
of  a  century  to  get  a  man  from  their  converts  fit  for  the  ministry ! 
In  that  early  church  every  congregation,  apparently,  had  its 
native  pastor,  and  in  some  cases,  as  at  Ephesus,  evidently  three 
or  four,  or  more.  They  saw,  we  may  be  sui'e,  what  we  should 
see,  that  the  only  way  to  conserve  mission  work  and  to  extend 
it,  was  by  the  ordination  and  establishment  of  a  native  min- 
istry. 

This,  I  say,  was  the  method  of  the  Apostles,  the  method  of 
the  men  who  had  learned  their  work  in  the  school  and  at  the 
feet  of  Christ. 

I  anticipate  the  objection  that  Paul  and  Peter  had  a  higher 
type  of  men  to  select  a  native  ministry  from  than  the  mission- 
ary in  India,  say,  has  today.  I  doubt  it.  I  doubt  whether  there 
is  a  mission  in  India  today,  with  an  organization  twenty  or 
twenty-five  years  old,  that  has  not  a  number  of  catechists  quite 
as  learned  and  quite  as  devoted  as  the  average  run  of  men 
whom  Paul  and  Peter  and  Timothy  and  Titus  hesitated  not 
to  set  apart  for  the  work  of  the  ministry  by  the  laying  on  of  the 
hands  of  the  presbytery.  At  all  events  the  burden  of  proof  rests 
with  the  man  who  says  that  the  average  Hindu  catechist  of 
Guntur  and  Narasaravupet  and  Rajahmundry  is  not  as  learn- 
ed and  not  as  devoted  as  the  average  Gentile  catechist  of  Lys- 
tra  and  Iconium  and  Antioch,  and  whom  these  great  mission- 
ary leaders  prayed  over,  ordained,  commended  to  the  grace  of 
God,  and  left,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  do  the 
'  best  he  could., 

I  think  I  am  not  an  extremist.  To  insist  that  there  ought  to 
be  the  same  proportion  of  foreign  missionaries  to  the  number 


152  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

of  people  in  the  foreign  as  in  the  home  field  is  to  label  oneself 
a  missionary  crank,  and  properly  so.  In  order  to  maintain  the 
same  proportion,  the  General  Synod  would  need  to  send  to  the 
Guntur  field  one  hundred  and  twenty  missionaries ;  and  if  it 
counts  adherents,  two  hundred  and  forty;  whilst  to  maintain 
the  same  proportion  to  the  people  in  the  districts  in  which  the 
General  Synod  and  General  Council  are  located,  it  would  re- 
quire that  each  of  these  branches  of  our  church  should  keep  no 
less  than  six  thousand  foreign  missionaries  constantly  in  the 
field.  It  needs  only  to  make  a  statement  like  this  to  show  how 
unreasonable  and  utterly  impracticable  it  is.  It  goes  without 
saying  that  if  the  conversion  of  the  heathen  world  depended 
upon  a  herculean  effort  like  this  on  the  part  of  the  church  in 
Christian  lands  the  outlook  would  be  hopeless  indeed. 

But,  in  the  economy  of  God's  grace,  the  conversion  of  heath- 
en peoples  has  never  required  an  impossible  effort  like  that  on 
the  part  of  a  foreign  church.  It  is  impracticable  and  impossi- 
ble. No  nation,  nor  any  considerable  part  of  it,  was  ever  con- 
verted to  Christianity,  or  any  other  religion,  by  foreign  mis- 
sionaries. Take  it  in  India.  It  has  been  said  and  is,  without 
any  manner  of  doubt,  true,  that  ninety  per  cent  of  the  converts 
to  Christianity  are  made  by  other  Hindu  converts.  It  is  a  hu- 
miliating and  a  painful  thing,  as  one  must  sometimes  do,  to 
sit  and  listen  to  a  missionary  describing  to  an  interested  au- 
dience his  work,  'his  success,  the  number  of  people  that  have 
been  brought  into  the  church,  the  wonderful  doors  that  have 
been  opened  and  entered,  but  never  so  much  as  mentioning  his 
native  fellow  workers  and  their  share  in  it  all.  All  yet  in  In- 
dia, at  all  events,  it  is  almost  always  the  native  catechist  who 
has  discovered  the  convert,  has  wrenched  him  away  from  his 
old  behef,  instructed  him  in  the  principles  of  Christ  and  pre- 
sented him  to  the  missionary  for  baptism.  About  all  that  the 
missionary  did  was  to  baptize  him — after  proper  care  and  in- 
quiry, of  course— and  then  take  to  himself  any  credit  belong- 
ing to  the  transaction. 

I  do  n.ot  mean  to  reflect  upon  the  energy  or  devotion  of  the 
missionary.  I  do  not  blame  him  for  not  doing  more  than  he 
can  do :  I  do  blame  him  for  taking  credit  that  does  not  belong 
to  him.     r>ut  the  fact  is  that  so  far  as  the  direct,  individual. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  153 

hand-to-hand  grapple  with  heathenism  is  concerned,  the  na- 
tive brother,  as  a  rule,  is  the  better  worker.  And  this  is  only 
Avhat  should  be  expected.  When  all  is  said  and  done,  the  mis- 
sionary is  a  foreigner  and  remains  a  foreigner.  He  is  all  too 
often  a  bird  of  passage,  and  this  of  necessity.  How  frequent- 
ly does  it  occur  that  a  missionary  is  sent  out,  and  great  hopes 
of  his  usefulness  are  entertained  by  the  Church  and  the  Board, 
but  before  he  gets  the  barest  working  knowledge  of  the  ver- 
nacular, his  wife  gets  sick,  or  his  children  fall  ill,  or  his  own 
health  breaks  down,  and  he  leaves  the  country  and  the  foreign 
field  knows  him  no  more  forever.  The  native  worker  lives 
and  dies  in  his  own  country.  The  missionary  is  a  foreigner ; 
the  language  is  strange  and  uncouth  to  him ;  the  modes  of 
thought,  the  mani;ers  and  customs  of  the  people  are  as  differ- 
ent from  those  he  has  been  accustomed  to  as  those  of  another 
world  might  be.  If  he  is  an  American  he  comes  to  these  utterly 
strange  people  primed  to  the  full  wnth  American  ideas  and 
Yankee  notions,  and  he  finds  it  the  most  difficult  thing  of  his 
life  to  adapt  himself  to  the  order  of  things  into  which  he  finds 
himself  introduced  in  musty  old  Hindustan.  He  finds  that 
much  of  the  cargo  he  has  brought  from  America  is  practically 
useless,  and  the  best  thing  to  be  done  with  it  is  to  pitch  it  over- 
board. H  he  is  a  sensible  man  he  will  do  it ;  but  it  is  the  sim- 
ple and  sorrowful  fact  that  more  than  one  missionary  comes  to 
India  who  is  not  a  sensible  man,  and  who  blights  his  mission- 
ary career  by  insisting  on  carrying  out  his  foreign  ideas  regard- 
less of  the  peculiarities  and  prejudices  of  the  people  he  has 
come  to  help  and  save. 

Now,  in  all  these  respects  the  native  has  an  immense  ad- 
vantage over  the  foreign  worker.  When  he  stands  up  in  the 
village  street  he  speaks  his  mother  tongue ;  he  is  at  home  in 
the  country ;  he  knows  the  people  he  is  talking  to,  and  can  drive 
home  his  argument  by  illustrations  drawn  from  the  common 
experience  of  the  audience  before  him  as  not  one  foreign  mis- 
sionary in  a  score  can  do. 

It  has  been  well  said  that  "the  foreign  missionary  brings 
certain  qualifications  to  the  work  which  the  native  worker- 
does  not  possess.     He  has  back  of  him  a  thousand  years  of  a 


154  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

Christian  history.  He  has  definite  and  skilled  knowledge  of 
Christian  doctrine  and  thought.  Brought  up  from  childhood 
among  Christians  and  Christian  influences  he  ought  to  possess 
a  high  degree  of  spirituality,  and,  as  a  rule,  does.  And  he  has 
powers  of  organization  and  authority  which  belong  peculiarly 
to  the  Western  and  are  rarely  found  in  Eastern  character.  For 
the  present  and  for  some  time  to  come,  the  foreign  mission- 
ary, for  the  most  part,  must  initiate  and  guide  and  control." 
All  that  is  true ;  but  the  direct  impact  upon  heathenism,  I 
say,  must  be  made  by  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the  soil. 
That  has  always  been  the  history  of  successful  mission  achieve- 
ment. Augustin  and  a  few  dozen  monks  with  him,  constituted, 
as  far  as  we  know,  the  entire  foreign  missionary  force  that 
inaugurated  the  mission  that  converted  England.  St.  Patrick 
seems  to  have  been  the  single,  solitary  foreign  missionary  to  Ire- 
land ;  and  Boniface  and  a  few  with  him,  to  Germany.  But 
wherever  the  few  missionaries  went  they  at  once  established 
monasteries  and  institutions  for  the  training  of  an  indigenous 
ministry  who  should  carry  on  the  propaganda  under  the  for- 
eign missionary's  guidance  and  control. 

AVith  every  year  of  advancing  thought  and  missionary  ex- 
perience I  am  coming  to  see  more  and  more  clearly  that  the 
need  of  foreign  missions  is  not  large  numbers  of  foreign  mis- 
sionaries. Provided  they  be  well  equipped,  and  have  the  stuff 
in  them  to  make  leaders,  comparatively  few  foreign  mission- 
aries are  all  that  is  needed.  But  what  is  needed  is  a  large,  a 
thoroughly  trained  and  devoted  native  ministry. 

The  Rev.  J.  Cooling,  one  of  the  oldest,  an-d  confessedly,  one 
of  the  wisest  missionaries  in  India,  in  a  paper  recently  read 
before  the  Madras  Missionary  Conference  upon  this  subject 
says :  "The  Church  of  England  in  Tinnevelly  and  Tanjore  is 
leaving  its  mission  more  and  more  to  the  care  of  the  native 
pastors.  The  relation  of  the  European  missionary  to  the  na- 
tive church  is  largely  advisory.  This  system  has  worked  well, 
and  in  my  judgment  indicates  the  wisest  line  of  policy.  Do 
not  withdraw  the  European  missionary  from  the  field,  but  let 
him  gradually  hand  over  all  direct  control  of  the  native 
churches  to  the  Indian  pastorates.     No  missionary,  as  a  rule. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  155 

should  do  what  an  Indian  pastor  or  catechist  can  do  equally 
well." 

I  have  said  that  no  nation  was  ever  converted  to  Christian- 
ity by  foreign  missionaries.  He  who  says  so  has  not  read  his- 
tory aright.  No  church  in  any  land  was  ever  established  upon 
a  foundation  that  endured  that  was  not  established  by  men 
of  the  soil.  Every  attempt  of  foreigners,  as  far  as  I  know, 
failed.  That  brilliant  "missionary  meteor,"  Francis  Xavier, 
came  to  India  and  baptized  the  Hindus  not  only  by  the 
thousands,  but  by,  tens  and  hundreds  of  thousands.  For  ten 
years,  so  say  the  chronicles,  his  baptisms  averaged  70,000  per 
year.  In  Travencore  10,000  entered  in  one  month  by  the 
"gate"  which  he  opened  so  wade.  He  baptized,  so  the  record 
states,  until  his  hands  dropped  and  his  voice  became  inaudi- 
ble. And,  perhaps,  not  one  trace  of  his  work  remains ;  nor 
did,  perhaps,  fifty  years  after  his  death.  So  far  as  permanent 
results  are  concerned  all  his  work  was  little  more  than  the 
plowing  of  water.  The  sides  closed  in  and  left  no  trace. 
Why?  Because  he  organized  no  indigenous  ministry.  He  tried 
to  do  all  the  work  himself,  like  some_  missionaries  are  trying 
to  do  in  India  todajr.  and  when  he  passed  away  his  work  pass- 
ed v;ith  him.  So  it  has  always  been,  arid  so  it  always  will  be 
where  the  foreign  missionary  arrogates  to  himself  all  respon- 
sibility, and  fails  to  raise  up  a  self-reliant  native  ministery. 

This  brings  me  to  another  point  in  connection  with  this  sub- 
ject. And  that  is,  the  attitude  of  the  foreign  missionary  to  the 
native  ministry. 

It  is  a  common  saying  among  older  missionaries  that  in  the 
first  period  the  young  missionary  regards  all  native  Christians 
as  faultless  angels.  In  the  next  period  the  idol  is  shattered, 
and  the  native  Christian  is  regarded  as  wholly  and  entirely 
bad,  with  hardly  one  redeeming  virtue.  As  time  passes,  if  he 
is  a  sensible  man,  he  comes  to  estimate  native  Christians  at 
what  they  are.  In  the  second  period,  however,  which  some- 
times lasts  too  long,  the  native  worker  is  never  trusted,  alv.ays 
suspected,  even  despised. 

This  second  period  in  the  case  of  too  many  missionaries 
seems  to  last  during  their  entire  missionarv  career.     It  is  most 


156  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

unfortunate.  And  in  this  way :  No  honest  man  works  wilHng- 
ly  with,  or  under  a  man,  who  distrusts  him  and  refuses  to  in- 
trust him  with  responsibihty  because  of  suspicion.  This  jeal- 
ousy of  the  native  worker  is  most  injurious  to  niissions.  As 
might  have  been  foreseen,  it  is  keeping  many  of  the  best  edu- 
cated Indian  Christians  from  entering  mission  work.  In  the 
mission  with  which  I  am  directly  connected,  during  the  last 
two  years  two  young  men  who  had  been  in  our  mission  school 
for.  perhaps  ten  years,  upon  whom  we  had,  I  think,  spent  more 
money  than  upon  any  two  young  men  in  the  mission,  who  were 
among  our  brightest  students,  when  the  time  came  to  enter  the 
service  of  the  mission,  deliberately  entered  secular  employment. 
And  it  was  not  so  much  to  be  wondered  at.  When  an  intelli- 
gent Indian  Christian  young  man  revolves  the  question  of  a  life 
calling,  and  surveys  the  outlook,  what  does  he  see?'  He  sees 
larger  and  larger  openings  for  secular  employment,  in  which 
he  has  a  fair  chance  of  rising  to  a  commanding  position.  Or 
he  sees,  on  the  one  hand,  that  the  Government  of  India,  without 
any  special  expression  of  good-will,  is,  m.ore  and  more,  making 
simple  fitness  for  a  place  the  only  test  of  its  acquisition.  He 
sees  that  highly  responsible  positions  are  accorded  to  men  of 
tried  worth,  and  that  he  has  a  fair  likelihood  of  attaining  to 
one  of  the  highest  positions  within  the  reach  of  his  powers. 

When  on  the  other  hand,  he  turns  to  observe  the  attitude 
taken  by  the  missionaries  towards  those  who  enter  mission  ser- 
vice, what  does  he  find!"  He  finds,  to  be  sure,  the  utmost  ex- 
pression of  good- will,  and  he  knows  that  it  is  perfectly  sincere. 
But  he  notices  that,  with  the  best  of  intentions,  there  is  a  fix- 
ed policy  of  conservatism,  and  hardly  any  sign  of  a  disposition 
to  accord  positions  of  trust  and  responsibility  to  even  the  tried 
servants  of  the  missions ;  much  less  to  create  opportunities 
which  I,  for  one,  would  be  ashamed  lo  acknowledg-.'  does  not 
exist  among  our  native  mission  workers  as  much  as  among 
government  employees. 

Take  a  concrete  case.  Here  are  two  young  men  attending 
the  same  school — some  mission  school,  say.  They  are  of  equal 
ability  ;  they  pass  the  same  examinations,  and  determine  as  to 
their  life  calling.     The  one  elects  to  enter  government  employ- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  i-O  i 

nient ;  the  other  the  service  of  the  mission.  Ten  years  pass. 
The  government  employee,  under  an  impartial  system  of  pre- 
ferment, has  gradually  risen  to  a  place  among  the  foremost  in 
his  department  of  service.  The  mission  worker  after  ten, 
twenty,  thirty  years  of  faithful  service  still  finds  himself  the 
repressed  subordinate  of  the  white  missionary,  often  ruled 
with  iron  hand,  and  with  no  prospect  of  ever  being  anything 
else  than  a  subordinate.  The  result  is,  inevitably  is.  that  many 
educated  Christians  stand  aloof  from  entering  mission  work; 
and  the  further  result  is  that  the  mission  which  pursues  that 
policy  of  distrust  of  the  native  worker  is  more  or  less  filled  with 
poor,  incompetent  men  vv^ho  are  willing  to  work  for  a  few 
rupees  a  month,  and  who  have  no  influence  whatever  except 
with  the  lowest  grade  of  Hindu  society. 

1  sa}-.  more  or  less  filled  ;  for  there  are  men  of  good  ir.tel- 
lectual  training  among  the  workers  in  all  our  missions;  and 
the  wonder  to  me  is  that,  in  view  of  the  persistent  refusal  to 
admit  them  to  the  ordained  ministry,  or  to  trust  them  with  re- 
sponsibility and  independence  of  action,  there  are. 

There  is  no  doubt  about  it  that  the  Christian  church  of  India 
is  too  much  dominated  by  foreign  influence.  The  controlling 
and  intimidating  authority  of  the  foreign  missionary  restrains 
the  freedom  and  damps  the  energy  of  the  Indian  worker.  And 
the  Home  Boards  always  side  with  the  missionaries.  The  time 
has  come  to  change  this  condition  of  things.  Properly  quali- 
fied natives  of  character  and  ability  must  be  raised  to  the  ofiice 
of  the  ordained  ministry ;  and  they,  with  the  entire  body  of 
catechists,  must  be  given  more  of  the  freedom  of  action  which 
is  given  to  their  white  associate  to  devolop  their  work  along 
the  lines  which  commend  themselves  to  their  judgment.  It  is 
certain  there  are  missionaries  and  mission  Boards  who  do  not 
understand  the  change  that  has  taken  place  in  the  thought  and 
opinion  of  the  Indian  church  in  the  last  few  years.  This 
change  has  been  brought  about  by  Christianity  itself.  How- 
ever immature  and  inconsiderate  these  opinions  may  often  be, 
aspirations,  ideas  of  freedom  and  independence  have  sprung 
up.  And  this,  I  say,  is  the  natural  result  of  the  teachings  of 
Christianitv  itself.     It  is  certain,  also,  that  the  halo  which  used 


158  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

to  surround  the  white  missionary  has  been  largely  dissipated. 
The  native  mission  worker  whose  father  and  grandfather, 
perhaps,  were  Christians,  and  who  feels  himself  capable  of  fill- 
ing the  higher  places  in  the  Christian  ministry,  and  who  cer- 
tainly is,  sees  no  reason,  in  the  Gospel  or  out  of  it,  why  the 
foreigner  should  arrogate  to  himself  all  the  high  places  and  he 
be  rigidly  excluded.  I  say  the  time  has  come  to  recognize  the 
change  that  has  taken  place  in  the  ideas  and  expectations  of  the 
educated  classes  generally,  and  of  the  Christian  community  as 
naturally  affected  by  the  change,  and  to  change  our  mission 
policy.  The  time  has  come  to  gradually,  but  of  fixed  and  de- 
termined policy,  to  raise  the  status  of  our  native  fellow  workers 
of  tried  worth  and  ability. 

And  this  is  true  particularly  of  two  missions  represented 
here.  I  feel  it  should  be  one  of  the  functions  of  this  paper  to 
call  attention  to  the  fact  that,  whilst  in  the  Protestant  missions 
of  South  India  generally  there  is  one  native  ordained  pastor 
to  every  853  members  of  the  native  church,  in  Rajahmundry 
there  is  only  one  to  every  2,000  of  a  membership ;  and  in  Gun- 
tur,  with  a  baptized  membership  of  certainly  over  25,000,  there 
is  not  one  single  ordained  native  pastor !  It  is  this  condition 
of  things  in  these  two  missions  that  led  that  prominent  mis- 
sionary, the  Rev.  Mr.  Cooling,  to  say  in  the  paper  already  re- 
ferred to,  "The  two  most  remarkable  cases" — that  is,  of  fail- 
ure to  ordain  a  native  ministry — "are  the  two  American  Luth- 
eran Missions  at  Rajahmundry  and  Guntur."  The  most  re- 
markable of  all  is  the  Guntur  mission ;  for  the  Rajahmundry 
mission  has  now  three  ordained  native  pastors,  but  the  Gui; 
tur  mission,  with  four  times  as  many  baptized  Christians,  not 
one.  Mr.  Cooling  adds  in  his  paper,  "The  Guntur,  or  Gen- 
eral Synod  mission,  has  159  catechists,  and  as  we  may  infer, 
ma'iy  of  these  men  are  men  oi  intelle:  ...1  ani  s;,)iritual  g  ft.-, 
C(|U-il  to  such  as  in,  a  1  a  :<■,!■  boring  ai  ,^\<  u  a;"  ordained." 
XA'ithout  any  manner  of  doubt  they  are. 

I  say,  therefore,  that  the  time  has  come  in  these  two  mis- 
sions to  take  into  counsel  our  native  brethren  far  more  than 
we  have  yet  done,  and  to  educate  them  up  to  a  higher  standard 
of  self-reliance,  and  this,  as  I  understand  it,  can  only  be  done 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  15<^ 

by  giving  them  spheres  of  greater  responsibiHty  aiul  inde- 
peiidence.  The  Boards  at  home  must  be  brought  to  see  the 
necessity  of  more  frequently  raising  Indian  Christian  workers 
to  posts  now  occupied  by  their  foreign  missionaries  wherever 
men  of  approved  competence  are  available.  Dr.  Wilson  of 
Bombay,  that  splendid  missionary  and  educator,  openly  de- 
clared that  he  aimed  at  preparing  his  Christian  students  to  take 
the  place  of  the  foreign  missionaries,  and  that  he  expected  them 
to  do  the  work  of  missionaries  to  their  countrymen  better  than 
foreigners,  including  himself  and  his  colleagues,  giants  though 
they  were  in  intellect  and  spiritual  power.  Missionaries  who 
w'ill  not  trust  their  native  brethren  must  receive  official  direc- 
tion from  their  Boards  to  trust  them.  The  testimony  of  those 
missions  who  have  done  most  in  the  way  of  raising  up  a  na- 
twe  ministry — notably  the  German  Lutheran  mission  in  In- 
dia— is  that  the  men  thus  raised  up  can  be  fully  trusted  with 
the  responsibility  and  authority  given  the  foreign  missionary. 
They  also  bear  testimony  that  they  have  found  that  the  men 
who  have  thus  been  trusted  have  grown  and  developed  far 
more  than  other  men,  their  equals  in  education  and  ability,  who 
have  been  kept  down  because  of  an  unwillingness  to  trust 
them.  But  a  few  weeks  ago,  an  Indian  bishop  of  the  Church 
of  England  being  asked  whether  the  time  had  not  come  when 
a  native  Indian  bishop  ought  to  be  claimed  from  Christian 
missions,  replied :  "Ah,  I  think  the  time  has  come,  and  I 
think  that  we  ought  to  risk  a  good  deal  to  reach  that  consumma- 
tion." No  doubt  we  must  allow  for  imperfection.  We  are 
not  perfect  ourselves.  If  we  raise  these  men  they  may  at  first, 
now  and  then,  abuse  their  authority;  but  give  it  to  them  and 
the  exercise  will  create  the  cure  and  remedy  for  such  abuses 
in  a  thousand  wavs. 


REMARKS. 


The  Rev.  W.  L.  Seabrook  said : 

As  a  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Board  of 
Missions  of  the  United  Synod  in  the  South.  I  feel  that  I 
should  say  to  the  Conference  that  the  foreign  work  of  the 
United  Synod  is  being  prosecuted  along  the  lines  suggested 


16(»  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

by  Dr.  Harpster.  We  have  in  Japan  three  American  mission- 
aries with  their  wives.  Two  of  these  are  located  in  Saga,  and 
the  third  in  Kumamota.  A  fourth,  not  employed  by  the 
United  Synod,  but  supported  by  the  Danish  Church,  work- 
ing, however,  in  line  with  our  representatives  to  build  up  one 
Lutheran  Church  in  Japan,  is  located  at  Kurume.  Two  na- 
tive Japanese  have  been  given  thorough  theological  training 
and  have  been  regularly  ordained,  one  as  pastor  of  the  church 
in  Saga,  the  other  as  missionary  pastor  at  Kumamota.  Three 
evangelists  are  receiving  careful  instruction  in  theology,  while 
aiding  in  the  work.  One  of  these  is  a  physician,  who  gave  up 
a  good  practice  to  become  a  worker  in  our  mission.  From 
the  large  cities  our  missionaries,  native  pastors  and  evangelists 
cover  towns  and  villages  intermediate,  preaching  and  teach- 
ing. It  is  our  ultimate  hope  to  build  up  a  native  Japanese 
Lutheran  Church. 


-WOMEN  AS  WORKERS  IN  THE  PRACTICAL  WORK 
OF  THE  CHURCH." 

By  the  Rcz'.  J.  P.  Krcchting,  D.  D. 
"The  woman's  cause  is  man's,  they  rise  or  sink 

Together,  dwarfed  or  godlike,  bond  or  free." 

The  statement  of  the  question  implies,  that  there  is  practical 
work  to  be  done  in  the  church ;  that  men  are  the  natural  lead- 
ers in  this  work ;  and  that  women  are  to  be  "helpers."  Wheth- 
er all  mer.  want  them  to  be  helpers  or  not  the  fact  remains,  they 
zvill  help;  and  have  already  accomplished  much:  and  their 
work  will  grow  a  hundredfold,  when  all  men  once  awake  from 
their  Rip  \'an  Winklian  sleep,  to  the  glory  and  possibility  of 
the  hour :  and  realize  how  much  more  and  better  work  can  be 
done,  by  a  combination  of  two  forces  the  strong  and  the  gen- 
tle, the  robust  and  refined,  the  head  and  the  heart :  the  first  rep- 
resenting man.  the  last  woman. 

Woman's  development  through  former  ages  may  have  been 
slow,  it  nevertheless  has  been  sure;  and  in  these  latter  days, 
it  has  been  marvellously  rapid. 

The  great  things  of  which  they  have  always  been  capable. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE,  161 

when  but  half  a  chance  has  been  given  them  is  proved  bv  manv 
shining  examples. 

Since  the  time  of  the  Renaissance,  such  shining  lights  have 
greatly  multiplied  among  all  nations,  and  notwithstanding  an 
illogical  and  unreasoning  prejudice,  on  the  part  of  some  of  the 
"lords  of  creation;'  woman  has  not  left  herself  without  wit- 
ness, in  all  countries,  in  every  department  of  learning  and  hu- 
man actvity. 

In  these  modern  days  her  development  and  accomplishments 
are  fairly  dazzling.  She  is  "turning  the  world  upside  down, 
and  is  come  hither  also!"  exclaim  my  countrymen,  m  sur- 
prise and  feigned  alarm. 

Yes,  old,  staid,  conservative  Germany  is  rubbing  the  sleep 
and  prejudice  of  centuries  out  of  her  eyes,  and  pretends  to  be 
overwhelmed  with  astonishment,  that  "Three  Degrees  of 
Honor""  should  be  awarded  to  women,  two  of  them  Ameri- 
cans, at  the  University  of  Berlin. 

One,  Carolina  T.  Stewart,  of  Texas,  whose  graduating  thesis 
on  German  philosophy,  it  is  said,  was  the  most  learned  and  com- 
prehensive essay  on  that  subject  ever  read  by  the  instructors 
in  German  literature. 

This  year,  we  are  informed  by  the  Saturday  Review  of  the 
New  York  Times,  "The  honors  at  the  Berlin  University  have 
been  carried  off  by  a  delicate  looking  Yankee  girl,  with  bright 
blue  eyes  and  rosy  cheeks,  who  looks  so  frail  and  tiny  as  if  a 
strong  gust  of  wind  might  pick  her  up  and  carry  her  away." 
Miss  Mary  W.  Montgomery,  of  New  Haven,  is  the  daughter 
of  a  congregational  minister  a  former  missionary.  She  took 
her  degree  last  summer  for  Oriental  languages.  Just  think, 
this  young  lady  who  has  Sanskrit,  Hebrew.  Turkish,  Arabic, 
Greek,  and  Egyptian  at  her  finger's  end  is  thought  to  be  the 
most  accomplished  woman  in  the  world  in  these  branches. 
America,  I  am  glad  to  know,  is  to  have  the  benefit  of  her  won- 
derful talents. 

She  will  doubtless  become  a  useful  helper  in  the  practical 
work  of  the  Church. 

There  are  women,  who,  while  thev  have  more  heart  and  are 


162  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

Stronger  in  their  affections  than  men,  are  at  the  same,  by  no 
means  weaker  in  culture,  and  in  the  grasp  of  their  mental  vigor 
and  intellectual  poise.  In  all  the  activities  of  life,  women  prove 
themselves  the  equal  of  men.  They  have  as  successfully  ruled 
great  empires ;  have  even  led  large  armies  to  splendid  victory. 
As  writers  of  books,  they  have  attained  highest  rank  among 
distinguished  authors,  of  poetry  and  prose.  In  science,  medi- 
cine, philophosy  and  law,  they  have  accomplished  wonders. 

In  politics  even  woman  is  b}-  no  means  a  novice.  If  not 
publicly  conspicuous  she  is  a  silent  mighty  factor — "a  power 
behind  the  throne.""  Napoleon  is  quoted  as  having  said  to 
Madam  De  Stael,  "What  have  women  to  do  with  politics?" 
She  replied.  "Women  have  to  do  with  politics,  when  politics 
bring  their  heads  in  danger."  Through  all  the  silent  cen- 
turies, woman's  influence  has  been  the  resistless  magnet 
dravv'ing  together  the  interests  of  nations,  and  illuminating  the 
pages  of  human  history. 

And  here,  and  there,  through  the  marching  years,  stars  of 
the  first  magnitude,  have  arisen,  who  by  the  splendor  of  their 
matchless  achievements  have  glorified  the  darkness  of  a  hard 
and  prosy  age.  In  the  earliest  dawn,  in  the  primal  sweetness  and 
•freshness  of  paradisal  verdure  and  bloom,  before  any  shadow 
of  sin  had  cast  its  blight  upon  the  fresh  _\oung  world.  God 
:saw,  what  a  lonely  helpless  creature  man  would  be  without  the 
gentle  sympathy,  the  helpful,  quick  guiding  and  refining  in- 
fluence, the  genial  comradeship  of  woman.  Divine  compas- 
sion felt  that  it  was  not  good  for  man  to  be  alone ;  and  with 
the  unfolded  map  of  the  future  history  of  the  home,  society 
and  the  Church,  before  Him,  declared,  '7  will  make  him  an 
helpmeet  for  him.''  And  ever  since,  no  home,  no  society,  no 
•church-organization  has  been  complete,  where  zvoman,  man's 
suitable  helper,  has  been  lacking. 

Every  added  year,  as  the  human  race  grows  broader,  deeper 
and  fuller  in  the  measure  of  its  ordained  intellectual  vigor  and 
largeness,  it  will  approach  to  a  more  evenly  adjusted  social  bal- 
ance, where  the  two  sexes  working  together  in  union,  divinely 
blessed,  offer  the  most  wholesome  variety,  yet  a  perfect  unity 
— a  God  ordained  "mutuality/'  Step  by  step  and  year  by  year, 
the  gentler  sex  is  advancing  to  the  goal  of  her  fullest  devel- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  163 

opriient,  and  high  destiny,  as  man's  fellow-worker;  not  only 
in  the  sacrament  of  family  and  social  economy,  but  as  the  true 
rights  of  the  two  sexes  are  settled,  there  will  be  no  hindrance 
or  obstacle  in  the  way  of  her  unfolding  the  peculiar  char- 
acter of  her  personal  faculties,  intellectual,  moral  and  spirit- 
vial,  as  an  independent  power,  in  the  practical  work  of  the 
church.  And  that  independent  power  will  not  create  division, 
or  difference  of  plans  or  interests ;  but  inconceivably  greater 
will  be  the  gain  for  the  kingdom  of  righteousness,  as  the  re- 
sult of  the  balance  and  harmony  of  "masculinity  and  feminin- 
ity," each  developing  that  which  is  highest  and  best  in  each 
other." 

Woman's  quicker  insight  into  things,  and  her  warmer  af- 
fections, will  act  as  a  mighty  spur  and  inspiration  on  the  slow- 
er, perhaps  stronger,  intellect  of^man.  The  weaker  will  con- 
ceive and  foresee,  the  stronger  execute,  and  accomplish.  Wo- 
manly impulse  and  manly  concentration,  will  walk  side  by  side, 
mutually  helping  to  solve  all  the  practical  problems  of  hu- 
m.anity ;  and  pushing  the  practical  zvork  of  the  church  to  its 
destined  splendor  and  high  goal,  by  the  inspiration  of  a  union, 
sanctified  by  God,  and  smiled  upon  by  holy  Angels.  They  will 
help  each  other  most,  when  in  closest  intimacy,  they  yet  remain 
most  different  and  distinct;  she  constantly  growing  more  zvo- 
manly,  he  constantly  growing  more  manly. 

It  aims,  purpose  and  affection  one,  in  sweet  affinity  blending 
together;  each  growing  stronger,  in  him,  or  herself  divinely 
apart,  but  one  supplementing  the  other.  Another,  perhaps, 
makes  my  meaning  plainer.  He  says,  "Woman  is  all  heart  .  . 
.  .  Man  is  all  head.  Man  when  he  is  truly  manly,  carries  his 
strength  in  his  head,  woman,  when  she  is  truly  womanly,  car- 
ries her  special  strength  in  her  heart.  .  .  Neither  monopo- 
lizes the  special  department;  but  by  eminence,  he  is  reason, 
she  is  love.  Woman,  however  powerfully  she  may  think,  and 
in  some  instances  she  will  think  more  powerfully  than  man,  is 
the  representative  of  affection.  Man,  however  ardently  and 
constantly  he  may  love — and  in  some  instances  he  will  love 
more  ardently  and  more  constantly  than  woman — is  the  repre- 
sentative of  thought.     If  anv  of  us  think  this  discrimination 


164  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

gives  any  advantage  to  man,  it  is  only  because  we  are  not  yet 
Christian  enough  to  acknowledge  that  the  spirit  is  grander 
than  the  intellect,  holiness  wiser  than  logic,  the  human  heart 
deeper  and  nobler  than  the  head."     (Dr.  Huntington). 

Wonderfully  this  truth  of  Scripture  is  being  verified  in  the 
history  of  the  church  of  Christ,  that  "There  are  diversities  of 
gifts,  but  one  spirit."  And  in  "the  practical  zvork  of  the 
church,"  where  woman  has  already  proved  herself  such  a 
forceful,  and  successful  "helper."  let  all  scepticism  in  the  di- 
vine dictum,  "What  God  hath  joined  together  let  no  man  put 
asunder,"    immediately  disappear. 

When  we  consider,  the  blessed,  mighty  work  already  accom- 
plished by  these  helpers,  at  home  and  abroad ;  the  missions  and 
missionaries  they  are  sustaining,  the  money  they  are  raising 
for  the  work  of  the  Lord,  the  souls  they  are  turning  from  the 
power  of  evil,  toward  the  light,  by  their  gentle  ministries  and 
Godgiven  tact,  we  can  only  wonder,  that  the  least  remains  of 
doubt  should  still  exist  in  the  mind  of  any  enlightened  Chris- 
tian man,  that  in  public  and  in  private,  "Women  are  the  legiti- 
mate helpers  in  the  practical  work  of  the  Church!"  Angels 
are  surprised,  that  the  leaven  of  this  inspiring  Gospel,  of 
woman's  practical  cooperation  with  man.  in  the  blessed  work 
of  winning  a  fallen  world  for  Christ,  has  not  yet  leavened  the 
whole  lump  of  humanity. 

It  is  strange,  with  the  splendid  results  of  the  beneficent  work 
before  them,  that  every  church  in  the  land  has  not  yet  an  earn- 
est, active  woman's  missionary  society.  If  the  fault  could  be 
traced,  would  we  not  find  that  in  most  cases  this  lack  was  due 
to  the  fact  of  an  unphilosophical  and  unreasonable  prejudice 
of  the  pastors  of  these  churches  and  the  husbands  of  some  wo- 
men, who,  while  they  are  intelligent  and  up  to  date  in  other  mat- 
ters, find  it  hard  to  recover  from  the  defective  training  of  heath- 
en ancestors,  who  regarded  woman  as  an  inferior  animal, 
whose  sphere  of  activity  should  be  relegated  to  the  kitchen, 
mostly,  doubtless  thinking  it  well  for  her  to  remember  that 
the  more  direct  route  to  a  man's  heart  is  by  the  way  of  the 
stomach,  entirely  forgetting  that  the  record  of  the  allwise  crea- 
tive act  is,   "so  God  created  man  in  his  own  image,   in  the 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  165 

image  of  God  created  he  him,  male  and  female  created  he 
them."  "So  then  they  are  no  more  twain,  but  one  flesh." 
That  established  their  correlation  and  equality,  pretty  clearly ; 
and  the  question  of  sex-barriers  and  boundary  lines  should  be 
forever  set  aside  in  the  practical  work  of  the  church. 

Capacity,  talent  and  fitness  should  alone  decide  a  man's  or 
woman's  place  for  work  in  the  Master's  wide-extended  fields. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  best  work  can  be  done  by  a  union 
of  the  sexes ;  "The  thinking  head"  if  you  please,  and  "the  lov- 
ing heart."  For  wisely  it  has  been  hinted,  "it  is  by  the  law  of 
social  diversity,  reciprocity  and  balance  that  the  greatest  re- 
sults are  worked  out,"  the  greatest  good  is  accomplished.  And 
nowhere  is  this  so  true  as  in  the  practical  work  of  the  church. 

Here,  noble,  loving,  consecrated  woman  finds  her  most  con- 
genial and  useful  field  for  the  exercise  of  her  consecrated  gifts. 
Oh,  how  wisely  and  usefully  she  has  employed  them  during  the 
last  quarter  of  a  century !  With  man,  she  has  entered  the 
wildest  and  most  savage  lands  ;  faced  deathly  climates,  all  man- 
ner of  unimagined  horrors  and  perils  by  land  and  sea.  Hard- 
ships and  dangers  have  not  dampened  her  zeal  and  devotion  in 
the  pathway  of  duty.  Love  to  Christ  and  love  to  man,  having 
become  the  master  passion  of  her  redeemed  heart,  she  has  laid 
every  gift  and  talent  at  the  Saviour's  feet,  to  go  wherever  he 
leads ;  "to  do  whatever  He  wants  her  to  do."  Thousands  of 
heathen  homes  through  her  instrumentality  have  already  be- 
come houses  of  prayer.  Many  a  dark,  ignorant  mind  has  be- 
come luminous  with  the  glory  of  God  and  the  light  of  truth. 

As  deaconesses  and  nurses  what  cheer  and  comfort  they  have 
brought  to  unnumbered  homes  as  they  prayed : 

"Not  might  to  rule,  but  strength  I  ask, 
To  minister  to  want  and  pain : 
To  follow  where  thy  chastening  hand 
Doth  conquer  loss  and  makes  it  gain." 

"Give  me  the  love  that  gives  itself. 
Nor  recompense  nor  honor  asks ; 
That  sees  Thee  in  the  least  of  Thine, 
And  serves  Thee  in  the  humblest  task." 


166  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE, 

As  physicians  and  Zenanna  workers,  women  have  gained 
access  into  homes,  walled,  with  stronger  walls  than  those  of 
China,  by  the  custom  of  centuries.  Into  all  these  homes  they 
have  taken  the  name  of  Jesus  as  a  messenger  of  light  to  the  poor 
benighted  heart ;  and  the  beauty  of  the  Christ  life  has  flashed 
from  their  faces  into  the  dark  lives  of  their  heathen  sisters  with 
resistless  power,  and  awakened  new  thoughts  and  sometimes 
inspiration  and  longing  after  the  purer  and  the  holier  religion 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

The  most  inspiring  scene  at  the  Ecumenical  Conference  of 
1900,  at  Carnegie  Hall,  which  as  a  thrilling  memory  will  re- 
main in  the  minds  of  all,  who  were  present,  was  the  welcome 
extended  to  more  than  four  hundred  women  missionaries, 
of  which  another  says,  "It  came  after  the  formal  addresses  were 
over  and  was  a  sight  long  to  be  remembered  in  the  history  of 
missions.  White  haired  women,  the  greater  part  of  whose 
lives,  in  many  cases  had  been  spent  in  the  mission  fields  were 
marshalled  on  the  platform  in  groups  by  Mrs.  A.  J.  Gordon, 
of  Boston,  amid  clapping  of  thousands  of  hands,  the  waving 
of  thousands  of'  handkerchiefs,  and  the  smiles  and  tears  of 
a  host  of  women,  worked  up  to  the  highest  pitch  of  enthusiasm. 
Mrs.  Gordon  would  not  let  the  missionaries  go  till  she  had  told 
some  touching  or  heroic  tale  of  their  personal  sacrifice,  or  of 
the  success,  which  had  crowned  their  years  of  toil  and  teach- 
ing." 

The  same  heroism  and  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  distinguish 
many  of  the  lives  of  our  women — home  missionaries — wives 
of  clergymen  who  serve  the  master  at  starvation  salaries.  How 
many  of  them  plan  and  toil  to  keep  the  wolf  from  the  door — 
to  nourish  the  children,  and  to  keep  the  domini  looking  respect- 
able! Why  the  long-continued  hardships  and  sacrifices  they 
endure,  shame  the  swift  death  of  the  martyrs  who  died  at  the 
stake. 

In  the  slums  of  the  city  on  plain  and  prairie,  in  city  and 
country  churches,  as  teachers  and  workers  in  the  Sunday 
School  and  prayer  meeting,  in  the  C.  E.  Societies,  in 
leagues,  and  temperance  organizations,  in  our  choirs, 
and  missionary  societies,  every  where,  the  women  are 
efficient     helpers     in     the     practical     work     of     the     church. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  \f]l 

This  is  no  longer  a  question,  or  experiment,  but 
a  most  cheering  and  glorious  fact.  These  women  helpers  are 
the  joy  and  inspiration  of  many  a  pastor's  heart.  The  church 
would  not  endure,  without  them,  and  the  practical  help  which 
they  render.  Did  you  ever  think  of  this,  that  even  God,  I 
say  it  reverently,  could  not  redeem  the  world  without  the  aid 
of  woman's  instrumentality?  God  was  born  of  a  woman,  to 
save  the  world.  Who  therefore  would  set  a  limit  to  her  sanctified 
activity?  And  how  the  Lord  has  blessed  their  efforts,  and 
glorified  their  work,  since  the  sainted  Mrs.  Doremus  of  New 
York  city  was  inspired  to  start  the  first  missionary  society  forty 
years  ago!  Fifty-two  Women's  Boards  are  reported  today, 
and  their  united  gifts  in  one  year  amounted  to  $2,600,000. 
"What  hath  God  zvroiight?"  by  women  as  helpers  in  the  prac- 
tical work  of  the  church!  Another  says  that  $30,000,000  was  paid 
into  the  societies  since  their  organization  "by  systematically 
collecting  the  small  sums  of  two  cents  a  week."  "We  have 
taken  a  third  of  a  century  to  prove  that  woman  understands 
the  systematic  giving  of  littles." 

More  than  facts  or  figures  are  the  broadened  lives, 
tlic  heroic  hearts,  the  un.-;c'ri-;h  hands  that  through  this  work 
ii;rc  Leen  developed. 

"If  I  could  show  you  the  girls,  glorious  girls  from 
Wellesley,  and  Vassar  and  Smith ;  from  high  schools,  and  nor- 
mal schools ;  working  girls,  from  printing  office  and  factory, 
from  kitchen  and  sewing  room,  all  united  in  one  great  girl's 
club,  our  missionary  garden  of  roses,  you  would  feel  as  I  feel  as  I 
work  among  their  sweetness  and  freshness."  'There  is  the 
little  child,  Christ's  own  object  lesson,  learning  as  soon  as  it 
can  reach  out  its  dimpled  hands  to  give  to  the  dear  Saviour, 
and  even  the  babies,  as  soon  as  they  can  boast  of  a  name,  must 
have  it  inscribed  on  the  'cradle  roll.'  And  we  have  only  just 
begun."  (Mrs.  N.  M.  Waterbury,  Sec.  W.  B.  For.  M.  S.,  Bos- 
ton, Mass.) 

God  bless  the  mothers  and  sisters,  the  trainers  of  youth,  the 
"helpers  in  the  practical  zuork  of  the  church!"  And  let  him  be 
ashamed  who  does  not  bid  them  God-speed  in  the  work,  upon 
which  God  has  set  His  seal. 


168  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

''Oil  woman !  whose  form  and  whose  soul 

Are  the  spells  ani  the  liglit  of  each  path  we  puf'ae, 

Whether  sunn'd  in  the  tropics  or  chil'cd  at  the  pole, 
I'i  V- oman  be  theic,  there  is  happines-  too." 


OUR  HOME  MISSION  FIELD— EAST. 

By  the  Rev.  William  F.  Backer. 

The  Church  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  order  to  be  true  to 
that  command  of  her  great  Head  which  lies  at  the  foundation 
of  all  her  activities,  is  and  ever  must  be  a  missionary  organiza- 
tion. At  first  thougjit  one  might  suppose  that  the  great  com- 
mission had  to  do  solely  with  what  we  call  foreign  missions; 
but  as  our  Lord  sends  forth  His  servants  not  only  to  carry  the 
light  of  the  Word  into  those  places  that  hitherto  have  remained 
in  darkness  but  also  to  feed  His  lambs  and  to  build  up  and  con- 
tinue the  work  of  the  church,  we  have  both  the  exalted  privi- 
lege and  the  solemn  duty  of  engaging  in  that  particular  form 
of  Christian  activity  covered  by  the  term  Home  Missions. 

The  Lutheran  Church  in  American  ought  to  be  particularly 
interested  in  this  Home  Mission  work.  From  the  earliest  years 
of  her  history  in  this  land  she  has  been  essentially  a  missionary 
Church.  Even  if  the  term  missions  be  narrowly  construed  to 
refer  only  to  such  parishes  as  have  been  organized  as  a  result 
of  the  efforts  of  one  sent  from  without  it  would  be  safe  to  say 
that  a  very  large  number  of  the  eleven  thousand  organized 
churches  in  America  today  were  at  first  mission  churches.  It 
will  be  equally  within  the  bounds  of  reason  to  predict  that  a 
considerable  percentage  of  the  Church's  future  growth  in 
numbers,  wealth,  and  influence  will  depend  largely  upon  the 
energy  and  zeal  with  which  she  carries  on  her  missionary  oper- 
ations. It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  therefore,  that  in  a  gath- 
ering like  this,  called  to  discuss  questions  and  consider  interests 
vitally  connected  wth  the  future  welfare  of  our  beloved  Church, 
the  Home  Mission  work  should  not  be  neglected. 

Coming  now  to  the  particular  phase  of  the  subject  immed- 
iately before  us,  let  note  briefly  some  limitations  that  present 
themselves. 

We  speak  now  of  Home  Missions.    But  if  we  strive  to  point 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  169 

out  and  emphasize  the  importance  of  energetic  missionary 
operations  at  home,  let  it  not  for  a  moment  be  supposed  that  we 
have  lost  sight  of  the  equally  pressing  need  of  large  and  faith- 
ful endeavor  in  the  foreign  field.  As  we  have  already  hinted, 
there  is  no  essential  difference  between  these  two  branches  of 
evangelical  work.  Both  grow  out  of  the  same  commission. 
Neither  of  them  dare  be  fostered  at  the  expense  of  the  other. 
The  diligent  cultivation  of  the  one  field  will  inevitably  help  the 
other.  If  we  pay  proper  attention  to  the  conversion  of  the 
heathen  in  foreign  parts  it  will  serve  to  remind  us  of  our  duty 
to  the  so-called  heathen  at  home.  If  we  diligently  cultivate  and 
build  up  the  interests  of  the  church  at  home  it  will  be  the  means 
of  supplying  additional  power  for  the  foreign  work. 

Our  topic  also  limits  us  to  the  East.  This,  however,  is  a 
somewhat  indefinite  term.  Some  have  the  New  England  states 
only  in  mind  when  they  speak  of  the  East,  though  such  people 
often  employ  a  qualifying  phrase  and  say  "way  down  East." 
Others  again — and  among  them,  it  is  to  be  feared,  are  many 
Lutherans — limit  the  term  "East"  to  the  narrow  strip  of  terri- 
tory East  of  the  Allegheny  mountains.  Geographically  our 
topic  would  include  all  the  states  up  to  and  including  Minneso- 
ta, Iowa,  and  Missouri,  for  the  western  boundary  of  the  states 
is  very  nearly  the  dividing  line  between  East  and  West.  It 
will  serve  our  purpose,  however,  to  defer  somewhat  to  popular 
usage  and  include  only  the  territory  east  of  Chicago  and  north 
of  the  Ohio  and  Potomac  rivers. 

What.  then,  has  been  done  to  cultivate  this  Eastern  field  and 
what  are  its  possibilities,  requirements,  and  probable  future  de- 
velopment ? 

First,  let  it  be  observed  that  the  Lutheran  Church  has  not 
neglected  the  Eastern  field.  It  is  sometimes  asserted  that  our 
Church  has  suffered  great  losses  in  this  older  portion  of  the 
land,  partly  through  a  failure  properly  to  handle  the  language 
question  and  partly  through  a  failure  to  realize  her  mission 
and  make  full  use  of  her  opportunities.  There  is  no  doubt 
much  truth  in  this  complaint  but  there  are  some  facts  in  this 
connection  that  must  not  be  forgotten. 

One  such  fac<-  is  that  the  period  of  great  growth  did  not  be- 


170  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

gin  until  after  the  Civil  War.  Although  the  history  of  our 
Church  in  America  goes  back  to  a  point  nearly  150  years  prior 
to  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the  grand  total  of  com- 
municant members  at  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War,  41  years 
ago,  was  only  232,780,  less  than  one  seventh  of  the  vast  host 
that  is  now  put  to  our  credit  by  the  statistician.  It  seems  al- 
most incredible  that  within  the  life-time  of  many  now  present 
who  still  call  themselves  young  our  membership  has  increased 
from  232,000  to  over  1,700,000.  This  means  not  only  that  the 
past  forty  years  have  constituted  the  period  of  the  Church's 
greatest  growth,  but  also  the  period  of  the  greatest  increase  of 
material,  and  that  the  slow  growth  of  the  preceding  200  years 
was  due  quite  as  much  to  lack  of  material  as  to  anything  else. 

Another  fact  to  be  remembered  is  that  notwithstanding  the 
peculiar  difficulties  we  have  had  to  meet  in  the  past  we  have 
succeeded  in  reaching  out  and  possessing  the  land  in  a  sur- 
prising manner.  These  difficulties  have  been  and  they  still  are 
formidable.  We  have  suffered  from  lack  of  organization.  Our 
form  of  church  polity  is  not  the  best  to  promote  aggressive, 
systematic  mission  work.  We  have  suffered  from  the  weak- 
nesses of  infancy.  Although  old  in  years  our  Church  has  re- 
mained young  in  numbers.  The  great  size  of  the  present  has 
been  reached  so  recently  and  so  rapidly  that  we  are  like  a  good- 
natured  young  giant  who  has  not  the  remotest  idea  of  his  real 
strength.  We  have  suffered  also  from  the  fact  that  the  Luth- 
eran population  gathered  at  any  one  point  has  often  been  of  a 
very  cosmopolitan  nature,  speaking  different  tongues,  accus- 
tomed to  different  methods,  and  manifesting  different  national 
traits  and  temperament.  Even  where  all  speak  the  same  lan- 
guage it  is  often  difficult  to  amalgamate  the  different  elements. 
Yet  in  spite  of  these  various  adverse  conditions  the  growth  of 
the  Church  even  in  the  East  has  been  remarkable.  We  have 
not  lived  up  to  the  full  measure  of  our  opportunities  but  we 
certainly  have  succeeded  in  occupying  a  very  large  portion  of 
our  territory. 

Still  another  fact  is  that  with  the  increase  of  internal 
strength,  with  the  vast  increase  of  material  and  consequent  op- 
portunity and  need,  and  with  that  wider  outlook  and  more  sys- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  171 

tematic  endeavor  that  might  be  expected  to  result  from  increas- 
ing knowledge  of  real  power  as  well  as  from  larger  experience, 
the  Church  has  come  to  a  period  of  great  awakening.  That 
would  be  an  interesting  volume  that  would  relate  the  his- 
tory of  the  mission  work  of  the  Church  in  the  East  during  the 
past  forty  years — that  would  show  with  what  patience  and 
persistence,  in  spite  of  every  obstacle,  our  various  Synods  and 
general  bodies  have  been  reaching  out  and  occupying  field  af- 
ter field  until  now  we  are  fairly  well  represented  in  almost 
every  portion  of  this  district.  According  to  a  recent  statement 
in  the  Lutheran  the  General  Council  is  to  be  credited  with  267 
missions  at  present  under  its  care  in  the  East  and  the  general 
Synod  with  98,  a  total  of  365.  New  points  are  constantly  being 
taken  up.  Surely  we  have  not  entirely  neglected  our  oppor- 
tunities. We  have  not  done  all  that  ought  to  have  been  done, 
nor  yet  all  that  might  have  been  done ;  but  the  results  thus  far 
attained,  the  work  now  being  carried  on,  the  ideas  and  plans 
now  being  developed,  and  the  growing  interest  manifested 
on  all  sides  inspire  the  confident  hope  that  we  are  at  the  begin- 
'ning  of  an  era  of  far  better  things. 

■  Really  the  Home  Mission  work  of  the  Church  is  onl}  now 
opening  up,  even  here  in  the  East.  And  it  is  a  vast  work.  Our 
statisticians  usually  tell  us  that  there  are  8,000,000  baptized 
Lutherans  in  the  United  States  and  Canada.  This  estimate  is 
probably  based  on  the  statistics  of  immigration  from  Lutheran 
countries.  Now  there  are  about  1,700,000  confirmed  meiiibers 
actually  connected  with  existing  churches.  The  ratio  of  con- 
firmed to  baptized  membership  is  about  ten  to  seventeen.  Ap- 
plying this  ratio  to  the  reported  confirmed  membership  we  find 
that  our  baptized  membership  is  about  2,890,000  or  at  most  not 
over  3,000,000.  Where  are  the  remaining  5,000,000?  Many 
of  them  undoubtedly  have  become  so  thoroughly  identified 
with  other  denominations  or  with  the  world  as  no  longer  to 
deserve  to  be  called  or  counted  as  Lutherans.  Yet  a  great 
many,  if  statistics  are  at  all  reliable,  while  not  exactly  yearn- 
ing for  the  coming  of  the  missionary,  furnish  him  with  an 
abundance  of  good  material.  These  people  must  be  cared  for 
and  we  above  all  others  need  to  take  up  this  important  work. 
We  must  remember,  too,  that  we  owe  a  duty  to  the  un- 


172  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

churched  masses  of  the  land,  whatever  their  eccelesiastical 
origin.  We  have  this  class  in  the  East.  They  are  to  be  found 
in  great  numbers  in  every  center  of  population.  We  profess 
to  believe  and  preach  the  pure  Gospel,  that  very  Gospel  that 
is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  everyone  that  believeth, 
Jew  or  Gentile.  We  also  have  the  command  to  go  into  the 
highways  and  hedges  and  compel  them  to  come  in.  If  our  con- 
fessions and  our  methods  cannot  stand  the  test  of  an  earnest 
endeavor  to  gather  in  those  who  are  not  entirely  beyond  the 
reach  of  all  truth  and  all  legitimate  effort,  we  had  better  call  a 
halt  and  face  the  question  of  revisions.  To  put  ourselves  in 
a  position  to  meet  this  problem  of  the  unchurched  multitudes 
of  the  land  is  an  important  part  of  our  Home  Mission  work. 

In  order,  however,  to  be  in  a  position  to  do  our  work  we 
must  see  to  it  among  other  things  that  our  field  be  well  occu- 
pied. If  we  would  properly  cultivate  our  field  considered  in  its 
general  aspect,  we  must  pay  due  regard  to  the  geographical 
situation.  Thus  regarded  our  mission  work  must  be,  first  of 
all,  city  mission  work. 

Everyone  knows  the  process  of  concentration  of  population 
in  the  cities  that  is  going  on  in  our  land.  This  process  is  es- 
pecially marked  in  the  Eastern  section.  Here  we  have  a  popu- 
laton  of  over  thirty-two  million,  about  42  per  cent  of  the  whole. 
In  the  United  States  there  are  135  cities  having  a  population 
above  30,000  and  of  these  135  cities,  83  with  a  total  population 
of  nearly  thirteen  million  are  to  be  found  in  the  East.  These 
83  cities  contain  nearly  40  per  cent  of  the  entire  population. 
In  the  State  of  New  York  61  per  cent  of  the  population  is  to 
be  found  in  the  twelve  cities  having  a  population  of  30,000  or 
more.  These  cities  are  the  great  centers  of  the  commercial, 
manufacturing,  and  financial  interests  of  the  country.  They 
rule  the  land.  In  a  large  measure  this  is  true  of  the  moral  and 
spiritual  interests  of  our  people.  The  demoralizmg  influence  of 
the  godlessness  and  wickedness  and  general  worldliness  of 
the  city  extends  over  a  large  section  of  the  territory  of  whici\ 
it  is  the  center.  If  we  would  save  the  country  we  must  first 
save  these  great  centers  of  influence.  It  is  not  merely  a  ques- 
tion of  being  able  to  find  more  people  to  the  square  mile,  nor 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  l73 

of  finding  perhaps  a  larger  percentage  of  the  unchurclied  in 
the  city  than  in  the  country,  but  rather  a  question  of  the  ultimate 
spiritual  welfare  of  the  whole  land. 

Even  if  we  limit  ourselves  to  the  narrower  sphere  of  caring 
only  for  the  Lutherans  who  are  drawn  into  this  current  of  con- 
centration with  others  and  who  are  to  be  found  in  great  num- 
bers in  the  cities,  we  shall  find  plenty  to  do.  Every  country 
pastor  knows  of  this  steady  movement  toward  the  city.  He 
may  not  always  be  able  or  willing  to  follow  up  those  who  re- 
move to  the  city.  Some  of  them  may  be  confirmed  nomads,  al- 
ways m.oving.  Others  may  also  belong  to  that  class  which  con- 
stitutes the  frayed  edge  to  be  found  on  the  border  of  every 
congregational  fabric.  But  many  of  them  represent  the  best 
element  among  our  vigorous  and  ambitious  youth,  for  the  city 
knows  the  value  of  fresh  young  country  blood.  They  do  not 
go  in  flocks  and  herd  together  in  the  same  streets  and  wards. 
Because  of  these  things  it  is  a  difficult  task  to  gather  them,  but 
they  must  be  gathered.  As  we  fulfill  our  duty  toward  this  class 
new  city  congregations  are  called  into  being,  existing  ones  are 
strengthened,  and  the  forces  are  increased  that  make  for  the 
moral  and  spiritual  uplifting  of  the  city. 

It  is  true  that  our  Church  is  on  the  ground.  Outside  of  New 
England  there  are  very  few  of  these  83  cities  that  have  no 
Lutheran  parish.  Nevertheless  a  great  field  presents  itself  to 
us  in  these  places.  Although  much  has  been  done  and  much 
energy  is  now  being  expended  the  territory  is  far  from  being 
adequately  covered.  The  larger  cities  present  a  complex  and 
difficult  problem.  The  older  sections  vacated  by  the  churches 
because  of  ihe  changing  character  of  the  population  dare  not 
be  vacated  b}'  the  Church.  There  is  great  need  of  true  mission- 
ary work  in  the  crowded  tenement  districts  and  in  the 
so-called  slums.  There  is  also  the  ever-widening  circle 
of  suburban  districts  on  the  borders  of  the  great  cities 
that  must  not  be  overlooked.  The  number  of  residence  centers 
adjacent  to  the  cities  is  ever  increasing  and  their  population 
growing.  Verily  they  who  are  responsible  for  the  spread  of 
the  Gospel  in  our  cities  have  a  great  task  on  their  hands. 

Next  after  the  larger  cities  we  need  to  consider  the  smaller 


174  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

places.  According  to  the  census  of  1900  there  are  in  the  Unit- 
ed States  703  cities  ranging  in  population  from  5,000  to  30,000. 
Of  these  379  are  to  be  found  in  the  East.  According  to 
the  Church  Almanac  147  of  the  379  cities  are  without  a  resi- 
dent Lutheran  pastor  and  presumably  without  a  Lutheran 
church  of  any  kind.  The  mere  fact  of  the  existence  of  a  city 
in  any  locality  does  not  necessarily  indicate  the  presence  of 
many  Lutherans  or  the  pressing  need  of  a  Lutheran  church. 
But  the  presumption  is  that  some  Lutherans  are  to  be  found  in 
almost  every  one  of  these  147  cities.  There  is  just  as  much 
reason  for  caring  for  a  few  Lutherans  as  there  is  for  looking 
after  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  more  numerous  colonies. 
Our  first  duty  is  to  those  larger  communities  where  for  va- 
rious reasons  the  need  is  more  pressing.  But  after  the  work 
in  these  larger  centers  has  been  put  upon  a  good  foundation 
we  ought  to  occupy  the  smaller  places  one  after  another  until 
every  one  of  them  has  a  Lutheran  church.  To  do  this  will  not 
only  provide  for  our  brethren  in  the  faith  in  such  places,  but 
will  also  strengthen  the  church  in  the  larger  cities  nearby. 
This  effect  is  well  illustrated  by  the  remark  of  an  Episcopal 
rector  in  one  of  our  growing  cities  to  the  effect  that  his  flour- 
ishing parish  could  hardly  have  had  an  existence,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  many  missions  maintained  by  his  church  mi 
the  smaller  surrounding  towns. 

Looking  at  our  field  from  a  geographical  point  of  view  there 
is  still  another  feature  to  be  noted,  viz..  the  fact  that  one  of  the 
most  populous  sections  of  the  East,  hitherto  affording  but  lit- 
tle attraction  to  the  hosts  of  Lutheran  immigrants,  but  now 
gradually  showing  an  increasing  Lutheran  population  both  in 
rural  and  in  manufacturing  districts,  begins  to  loom  up  as  one 
of  the  most  important  mission  fields  in  the  land.  The  New 
England  states,  the  section  of  which  we  now  speak,  contain  a 
considerable  number  of  the  cities  already  referred  to  as  hav- 
ing no  Lutheran  church,  together  with  an  increasing  number 
of  places  where  German  or  Scandinavian  churches  have  been 
organized,  considering  the  character  and  extent  of  the  popula- 
tion, the  increasing  Lutheran  immigration,  the  number  of 
growing  and  prosperous  cities  as  well  as  the  general  eccles- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  I75 

iastical  situation  in  a  region  where  the  Unitarianism  that  has 
long  held  sway  must  sooner  or  later  reach  the  end  of  its  in- 
fluence and  standing,  the  New  England  states  certainly  present 
to  us  a  most  inviting  and  important  field. 

Such,  in  brief,  is  our  field  ii*i  the  East,  a  field  that  would 
seem  at  first  sight  to  be  pretty  well  occupied,  but  which,  never- 
theless offers  abundant  opportunity  for  further  expansion.  We 
have  here  a  great  opportunity  if  certain  conditions  can  be  met 
our  church  will  be  able  to  give  a  good  account  of  herself  in 
the  future  even  as  she  has  in  the  past. 

One  condition  is  that  we  reach  a  right  solution  of  the  lan- 
guage question.  It  is  perfectly  natural  to  cling  to  the  mother 
tongue  and  to  be  filled  with  a  desire  to  train  up  the  children 
in  the  old  language  as  well  as  in  the  old  faith.  But  the  faith 
is  surely  of  vastly  greater  importance  than  the  language,  and 
the  confessions  must  ever  be  above  the  externals  of  national 
or  provincial  usage  that  happen  to  accompany  them.  In  this 
land,  therefore,  where  the  language  is  overwhelmingly  En- 
glish, the  policy  that  would  look  well  to  the  future  must  not  only 
look  with  friendly  eye  on  all  rightly  directed  English  mission 
work,  but  treasonble  as  it  may  sound  to  some — ought  also  to 
remove  every  obstacle  that  may  hinder  the  anglicization  of  the 
foreign-speaking  church  and  its  constituency  and  to  foster, 
though  not  force,  with  careful  hand  a  process  that  must  take 
place  sooner  or  later  in  spite  of  every  obstacle.  This  is  par- 
ticularly true  in  this  older  section  of*  the  East  where  the  lan- 
guage question  is  perhaps  more  acute  than  elsewhere. 

Other  conditions  to  be  observed  in  the  East  are  such  as  are 
connected  with  our  whole  mission  field.  The  compact  concern- 
ing the  establishment  of  new  missions  in  fields  already  well  oc- 
cupied and  served  by  others  ought  to  be  observed  with  great 
care  and  all  surplus  energy  expended  on  destitute  fields.  We 
need  an  abvmdant  supply  of  men  for  the  work,  men  having 
both  the  necessary  talents  and  the  right  missionary  spirit.  Our 
pastors,  especially  in  the  East  where  distances  are  not  so  great, 
need  to  keep  a  watchful  eye  on  nearby  places  with  a  view  to 
their  occupancy  at  the  earliest  possible  moment.  Much  can 
be  done,  and  for  that  matter  much  is  being  done  without  wait- 
ing for  a  missionary  to  be  sent  from  afar.    Our  boards,  mission 


176 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 


authorities,  and  individual  pastors  ought  to  redouble  their  ef- 
forts to  arouse  in  our  people  such  a  spirit  of  praying  and  work- 
ing as  will  be  commensurate  with  the  work  to  be  done. 

Let  us  look  toward  the  future  with  courage  and  hope.  Let 
us  take  up  our  great  work  in  that  spirit  of  optimism  that  will 
come  of  true  faith  and  a  determination  to  arise  and  manfully 
strive  to  do  the  Lord's  work.  Let  us  make  the  best  possible 
use  of  our  opportunities  and  the  future  will  see  our  churcli  in 
this  land  abundantly  fulfilling  her  great  mission. 


OUR  HOME  MISSION  FIELDS— WEST. 

-  By  the  Rev.  Prof.  J.  M.  Ruthrauff,  D.  D. 

Perhaps  no  more  appropriate  text  could  be  found  for  the 
subject  assigned  me,  than  the  words  of  our  Saviour  as  record- 
ed in  the  4th  chapter  and  35th  verse  in  the  Gospel  by  John: 
"Lift  up  your  eyes  and  look  on  the  fields ;  for  they  are  white 
already  to  harvest." 

It  is  a  good  thing  to  make  an  occasional  survey  of  the  work 
the  Lord  has  given  us  to  do,  that  we  may  if  possible,  measure 
its  character  and  magnitude  more  accurately,  devise  wiser 
methods,  and  enter  upon  it  with  a  more  becoming  zeal.  I  wish 
therefore  to  make  a  somewhat  brief,  but  comprehensive  sur- 
vey of  our  "Western  Home  Mission  Field." 

In  this  field  I  include  all  the  territory  west  of  Indiana,  and 
rjurih  or  Arkansas,  Oklahoma.  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona: 
but  including  California  and  Alaska.  This  territory  contains 
2,103.364  square  miles;  or  nearly  three-fourths  of  the  entire 
territory  of  the  United  States.  This  would  make  more  than 
forty-seven  states  as  large  as  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  ;  or 
more  than  252  states  as  large  as  Massachusetts. 

This  territory  constitutes  a  vast  empire,  unsurpassed,  yea 
unequalled,  in  climate,  scenery,  location,  and  in  natural  re- 
sources, in  this  country,  if  in  the  world.  While  in  climate  it 
embraces,  the  perpetual  spring  and  flowers  of  Southern  Cali- 
fornia, and  the  perpetual  snows  of  northern  Alaska,  the  great 
body  of  this  field  lies  in  the  temperate  zone,  the  most  genial 
and  hospitable  to  man. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  177 

As  to  scenery,  perhaps  nothing  in  the  world  can  surpass, 
for  variety,  vastness,  and  stibhmity,  that  of  the  Yosemite  val- 
ley, and  the  Rocky  Mountain  range.  In  farm  products,  it 
is  among  the  richest  in  the  vi^orld,  containing  most  of  the  great 
wheat,  corn,  and  stock  raising  states  of  the  Union.  It  is  the 
garden  spot  of  the  country.  It  could  furnish  bread  and  meat, 
and  clothing  for  a  population  many  times  as  large  as  the  en- 
tire population  of  the  United  States. 

In  timber,  coal,  iron,  stone,  nickle,  tin,  copper,  silver  and 
gold,  it  is  unsurpassed ;  containing  nearly  all  the  richest  silver, 
gold  and  tin  mines  in  the  country,  perhaps  the  richest  in  the 
world.  This  territory  produced,  during  1899,  about  $69,000,- 
000  of  gold,  and  the  same  of  silver,  or  about  $138,000,000  of 
both. 

It  has  about  3,000  miles  of  sea-coast,  and  a  number  of  ex- 
cellent harbors.  It  is  easily  accessible,  from  the  East,  by  rail- 
way, by  the  lakes  on  the  north,  and  by  the  Mississippi,  Mis- 
souri, and  other  rivers  through  the  Gulf  of  Mexico ;  and  when 
the  Panama  canal  is  completed  by  ocean  vessels  to  all  Euro- 
pean countries.  Besides  our  new  possessions  in  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  and  our  new  markets  in  the  Philippine  Islands,  and  in 
China,  point  out  for  this  country  a  magnificent  future.  In 
this  territory  there  is  now  a  population  of  22,304,806  souls ; 
more  than  one-fourth  of  the  entire  population  of  our  country. 
If  settled  as  densely  as  Pennsylvania,  it  would  have  a  popula- 
tion of  over  296,000,000;  and  if  as  densely  as  Massachusetts 
it  would  have  a  population  of  over  700,000,000.  Or  if  we  omit 
Alaska  it  would  still  support  over  400,000,000. 

In  settling  and  developing  this  section  our  Lutheran  people 
have  played  no  small  part ;  and  are  destined  to  act  a  still  more 
conspicuous  part.  While  an  effort  was  made  to  populate  this 
section,  by  emigration  from  other  races,  a  Providential  hand 
directed  the  strong,  sturdy,  industrious  and  conservative  Luth- 
eran stock  from  Germany,  Norway,  Sweden,  and  other  lands 
to  this  country  in  such  large  numbers,  for  more  than  a  gen- 
eration before  the  Civil  War,  that  they  have  held  the  balance 
of  power  in  the  great  Northwest,  and  wielded  it  with  no  un- 


178  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

certain  hand,  in  all  the  great  crises  through  which  our  coun- 
try has  passed  during  the  past  fifty  years. 

When  these  people  came  to  this  new  world,  it  is  true  they 
brought  with  them  their  language  and  many  of.  the  customs 
of  their  Fatherland ;  this  was  right  and  proper,  nor  did  they 
forget  their  native  land  in  a  fortnight.  This  could  not  be  ex- 
pected. He  who  could  so  easily  forget  the  mother  who  gave 
him  birth,  and  who  did  not  at  times  experience  an  intense  long- 
ing for  the  former  associations,  and  even  a  preference  for  some 
things  he  had  left  behind,  would  not  be  loyalto  his  new  home, 
and  could  not  be  depended  upon  in  time  of  trial. 

Only  he  who  has  a  true  appreciation  of  the  natural  ties  of 
home  and  native  land,  can  truly  estimate,  and  fulfill  the  new 
obligations  of  his  adopted  home. 

When  our  people  came  to  this  new  country,  they  identified 
themselves  at  once  with  all  the  best  interests  of  the  country! 
Tliey  bought  farms,  built  homes,  schools,  churches,  colleges, 
asylums,  paid  taxes,  accepted  office,  and  served  in  our  armies. 
They  became  Americans  in  the  true  and  best  meaning  of  the 
terin,  most  of  the  characteristics  they  brought  with  them  from 
the'  old  country,  such  as  industry,  economy,'  intelligence  and  re- 
legion  were  gratly  needed  in  the  new  country,  and  added 
strength  to  our  civilization.  True  they  were  often  misunder- 
stood and  wronged,  but  they  were  conscious  of  their  rights 
and  strength ;  and  the  day  of  their  vindication  is  near  at  hand, 
when  the  divine  meaning  of  this  mighty  movement  will  be 
truly  estimated  and  appreciated. 

Of  the  22,304,806  of  a  population  now  in  this  western  terri- 
tory, over  one-fourth  are  lAitherans.  A  recent  letter  from 
Rev.  J.  N.  Lenker  says  that  there  are  fully  6,000,000  Luth- 
erans including  children  in  this  western  field.  On  this  terri- 
tory we  have  3739  Lutheran  ministers.  I  have  been  unable  to 
secure  a  reliable  estimate  of  the  organized  congregations,  and 
the  adult  membership  of  our  church  in  this  territory;  but  can 
give  the  number  of  Lutheran  ministers  in  some  of  the  larger 
cities,  in  which  we  lead  all  other  denominations.  Chicago  has 
121,  Milwaukee  55,  Minneapolis  58,  St.  Louis  42,  St.  Paul  32. 

On  this  field  we  publish  y}^  Lutheran  periodicals,  nearly  one- 
half  of  the  Lutheran  publications  of  this  country.     We  have 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  179 

30  academies,  over  one-half  of  the  Lutheran  academies  in  the 
land.  We  have  25  colleges  with  238  instructors  and  4350 
students ;  1049  o^  whom  are  in  college  classes.  There  are  16 
Theological  Seminaries  with  57  teachers  and  829  students. 
There  are  13  Lutheran  hospitals;  5  Lutheran  Homes  for  the 
Aged,  5  Deaconess  Homes,  and  28  Orphan  Homes.  This  is 
no  mean  showing.  It  is  doubtful  if  any  other  people  have  ever 
emigrated  to  a  new  country,  and  enjoyed  such  a  magnificent 
development  in  educational,  moral,  religious,  and  material 
forces,  as  have  our  Lutheran  stock  in  the  great  Northwest. 
But  nothwithstanding  this  splendid  showing,  and  proud  as  we 
may  justly  be  of  our  Lutheran  heritage  in  this  field,  it  has 
never  been  truer  than  now,  that,  "The  fields  are  white  already 
to  harvest.''  There  are  still  many  communities  where  German 
and  Scandinavian  churches  are  needed  and  will  be  for  many 
years  to  come.  But  the  field  is  peculiarly  ripe  for  the  organ- 
ization of  English  churches.  Much  of  this  vast  population  is 
in  the  second  and  third  generation.  Millions  of  these  people 
speak  the  English  language  as  well,  or  better,  than  their  moth- 
er tongue ;  while  many  speak  only  the  English  language.  And 
unless  English  Lutheran  churches  can  be  organized  within  easy 
reach  of  these  people  many  of  them  will  drift  into  the  churches 
of  other  denominations,  or  into  the  world  and  be  lost.  Many 
of  the  German  and  Scandinavian  pastors  preach  English  part 
of  the  time.  This  is  a  wise  provision,  and  in  many  places  is 
productive  of  great  good.  But  this  is  not  always  possible,  or 
entirely  satisfactory.  First  because  there  are  very  few  men 
who  can  preach  acceptably  in  more  than  one  language ;  second- 
ly because  the  parents  and  pastors  who  naturally  prefer  to  wor- 
ship in  their  native  language,  and  who  naturally  desire  to  have 
their  children  do  so  as  long  as  possible,  fail  to  appreciate  the 
needs  of  their  children,  or  to  make  proper  provision  for  them. 
It  is  the  same  difficulty  with  which  our  church  has  had  to  con- 
tend in  this  country  from  the  beginning,  and  which  has  cost 
us  the  loss*  of  millions  of  our  own  children.  Our  fathers  had 
a  magnificent  opportunity  in  the  Atlantic  States ;  but  they  fail- 
ed to  see  it,  or  to  improve  it.  They  failed  to  provide  English 
services  for  their  children,  or  to  found  schools  and  colleges 
early  enough,  and  of  sufficient  strength,  to  meet  the  demands 


180  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

of  their  own  descendants.  As  a  result  our  church  is  either 
weak,  or  extinct  where  it  was  once  strong ;  and  where  it  is 
now  fairly  strong  it  should  be  much  stronger.  A  still  greater 
opportunity  confronts  us  today,  especially  in  this  western  field. 
Shall  we  like  our  fathers,  fail  to  see  the  day  of  our  opportun- 
ity? or,  having  profited  by  their  experience,  shall  we  prove 
ourselves  equal  to  th  demand  upon  us?  and  worthy  of  so 
great  a  heritage?  It  is  more  than  an  opportunity  that  con- 
fronts us.  It  is  a  tremendous  responsibility.  By  both  a  natural  and 
scriptural  law,  we  are  under  obligations  to  provide  for  our 
own.  These  millions  are  our  own  in  blood,  in  history,  in  bap- 
tism, in  doctrines,  and  in  usages.  Hence  we  cannot  escape  the 
Divine  obligation  to  assist  them  in  securing  an  adequate  min- 
istry, and  especially  in  the  English  language,  in  which  their 
descendants  are  destined  to  live  and  worship.  Besides  the 
significance  of  our  large  numbers  in  this  field,  at  this  time  must 
not  be  overlooked.  God  certainly  means  something  by  it.  In 
this  time  of  rationalistic  tendencies,  and  intense  materialistic 
development,  that  beget  indifference  to  religious  duties,  and 
threaten  to  rob  the  scriptures  of  their  rightful  authority,  and 
paralyze  the  preaching  of  so  many  pulpits,  it  is  cause  for  pro- 
found gratitude  that  our  millions  of  Lutheran  people  in  this 
land  are  substantially  a  unit  in  their  doctrinal  belief;  and  that 
they  are  more  and  more  shaping  their  worship  and  life  in  har- 
mony with  our  best  historic  development,  through  which  God 
has  wrought  so  much  for  the  nations  of  the  earth  in  the  past, 
and  promises  so  much  for  the  future,  especially  in  our  own 
land.  I  trust  I  will  not  be  thought  boastful  or  vain,  when  I 
say  that  I  believe  most  profundly  that  we  "have  come  to  this 
country  for  just  such  a  time  as  this."  But  in  order  that  we  may 
meet  the  demand  upon  us,  in  some  reasonable  measure,  certain 
things  are  necessary. 

I.  We  must  have  a  more  adequate  Lutheran  ministry. 
Whatever  may  be  said  about  having  too  many  ministers  in 
other  denominations,  it  is  not  true  in  the  Lutheran  church.  I 
believe  I  am  not  wrong  when  I  say  that  nearly  all  the  grad- 
uates from  our  Seminaries  arc  called  to  serve  congregations 
already  organized,  before  the  Seminary  year  has  properly  clos- 


J 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  18 i 

ed.  This  leaves  the  great  home  mission  field  largely  unpro- 
vided for.  Indeed  the  demand  for  true  well  equipped  men  has 
never  been  greater ;  men  of  real  ability,  and  who  are  willing  to 
take  ample  time  to  secure  proper  training  ,  men  who  have  a 
true  Lutheran  consciousness ;  men  who  know  the  history,  doc- 
trines, usages,  works  and  opportunities  of  their  church;  men 
who  are  not  merely  looking  for  a  place,  but  who  are  ready  to 
ente'-  any  promising  i'^eld  and  make  a  place;  men  who  are  will- 
ing to  thank  God  that  they  are  counted  worthy  to  serve,  even  in 
the  most  difficult  field j. 

2.  .\  e  should  b,'  wise  and  judicious  in  founding  and  devel- 
oping our  churches.  Churches  should  not  be  founded  where 
not  needed.  Parents  and  children,  pastors,  and  synods,  should 
endeavor  to  divest  themselves  as  much  as  possible  of  purely 
selfish  interests,  and  work  together  for  the  largest  possible 
good.  While  it  is  natural  for  us  to  love  our  own  language  best, 
to  desire  our  children  to  remain  with  us  as  long  as  possible,  and 
to  see  our  own  Synod  dominant  in  a  given  community,  yet  since 
we  are  becoming  so  thoroughly  a  unit  in  doctrine  and  usage, 
mere  questions  of  personal  taste,  or  language,  or  of  synodical 
connection,  should  give  way  where  necessary  to  the  greater 
end  of  securing  the  best  development,  of  the  greatest  number 
of  our  people  and  thereby  advance  the  cause  of  Christ  more 
rapidly. 

3.  In  order  to  train  an  adequate  Lutheran  ministry,  and  an 
adequate  leadership  in  all  other  lines  of  life,  with  true  appre- 
ciation of  our  church  and  her  needs,  we  must  have  stronger 
colleges.  We  cannot  expect  such  a  ministry  or  such  a  leader- 
ship to  come  from  purely  secular  schools,  or  even  from  the 
schools  of  other  denominations.  The  tree  will  produce  fruit 
only  of  its  own  kind ;  so  only  those  who  have  been  trained  in 
Lutheran  schools,  will  be  properly  fitted  to  render  the  most 
valuable  service,  in  our  ministry  or  in  other  departments  of 
our  great  work.  "Only  the  fittest  will  survive"  in  educational 
lines  as  in  all  others.  And  while  sentiment  may  control  for  a 
time,  our  young  people  will  not  long  be  contented  to  study  in 
inferior  schools ;  and  unless  we  make  our  colleges  on  this  ter- 
ritorv  what  thev  should  be.  we  will  drive  our  children  in  the 


182  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

purely  secular  schools  of  the  state ;  and  make  a  greater  mistake 
than  our  fathers  did  in  the  East,  where  their  children  were 
obliged  to  go  to  the  colleges  of  other  denominations.  We  must 
not,  we  dare  not  epact  such  a  binder  with  our  eyes  open !  Of 
course  to  train  an  adequate  ministry ;  to  found  and  develop 
home  mission  churches,  as  rapidly  as  the  ripening  field  de- 
mands ;  and  to  equip  our  schools  and  colleges  as  they  should 
be,  will  demand  large  giving.  But  we  have  the  strengtl:  if 
we  will  only  use  it.  But  before  our  people  will  act  properly 
and  feel  proper  interest  in  this  direction  they  must  be  properly 
instructed.  For  interest  springs  from  knowledge.  Hence  in 
the  last  analysis,  we  are  brought  back  to  the  preacher.  Let 
our  people  be  properly  instructed  from  the  pulpit :  through  our 
church  literature,  and  in  all  our  schools  and  seminaries,  and  the 
work  in  all  our  fields  of  activity  will  prosper.  It  is  not  a  ques- 
tion of  resources,  but  of  properly  commanding  and  using  wise- 
ly what  we  have.  We  must  not  wait  for  others  to  do  our  work 
for  us.  The  responsibility  rests  upon  us  all,  and  when  the 
offerings  of  the  many,  of  small  means,  are  linked  with  the  of- 
ferings of  those  who  are  more  favored  among  us.  the  demands 
of  the  hour  will  be  easily  met.  "The  fields  are,  (indeed)  white 
already  to  harvest ;  but  the  laborers  are  few,"  and  the  means 
are  inadequate.  "Let  us  pray  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  He 
will  send  forth  laborers  into  his  vineyard,"  and  that  the  people 
may  bring  their  tithes  more  faithfully  to  the  work  of  the 
Lord. 


OUR  HOME  MISSION  FIELD— SOUTH. 
By  the  Rev.  W.  L.  Seabrook. 

If  it  shall  be  possible  for  me  to  present  the  facts  so  that  \  ou 
shall  see  them  from  the  view  point  of  one  who  loves  the  South- 
land you  will  not  regard  as  extreme  the  assertion  that  no  more 
important  topic  is  before  this  conference  for  consideration 
than  this:     "Our  Mission  Field  South." 

A  bulletin  issued  a  few  weeks  ago  by  the  Census  Bureau 
shows  that  for  the  first  time  in  our  country's  history  the  south 
is  growing  faster  than  the  north;  that  for  the  decade  ending 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  183 

with  1900  the  increase  in  population  was  for  the  west  31.9  per 
cent ;  for  the  south  22.4  per  cent,  and  for  the  north  19  per  cent. 
Under  this  classification  the  north  and  south  are  the  regions 
on  their  respective  sides  of  the  Potomac  and  Ohio  and  the 
southern  boundaries  of  Missouri  and  Kansas,  while  the  west  is 
the  stretch  of  country  extending  from  the  eastern  lines  of 
Montana,  Wyoming,  Colorado  and  New  Mexico  to  the  Pacific. 
As  compared  with  the  rate  of  growth  between  1880  and  1890, 
there  was  a  proportionate  decrease  from  1890  to  1900  in  the 
west  and  the  north ;  and  a  proportionate  increase  in  the  south. 

An  editorial  paragraph  in  the  Lutheran  of  January  23,  1902, 
gives  the  following  comparative  statistics :  The  percentage  of 
increase  from  i860  to  1880  was  186.6  per  cent  for  the  west; 
61.9  per  cent  for  the  north;  48.4  per  cent  for  the  south.  From 
1880  to  1890  it  was  respectively  71.3;  24.8;  and  20.1.  During 
the  following  decade  (1890-1900)  the  percentage  is  31  west, 
19  north  and  22.4  south.  The  Lutheran  further  says:  "With 
the  great  industrial  expansion  in  the  south  has  come  a  wave  of 
emigration  from  the  north  and  in  the  future  this  is  destined 
to  increase ;"  and  then  asks,  'Ts  the  church-  in  the  north  taking 
this  new  movement  into  account?  The  General  Council  has  its 
eyes  at  present  largely  on  the  west,  where  its  most  fruitful  field 
lies;  but  will  the  United  Synod  in  the  South  be  able  to  cover 
this  vast  territory  unaided?"  I  am  here  tonight  to  ask  this 
further  question,  should  the  United  Synod  in  the  South  be  ex- 
pected to  cover  this  vast  territory  unaided? 

Before  giving  what  I  conceive  to  be  the  only  answer  to  this 
questioning,  I  desire  to  point  out  the  fact  that  in  the  above 
classification  of  territory  by  the  Census  Bureau  as  west,  north 
and  south,  many  states  are  included  in  the  north,  that  we  com- 
monly count  as  belonging  to  the  west — Kansas,  Nebraska,  the 
Dakotas,  Minnesota  and  Wisconsin,  Iowa.  Michigan  and  Mis- 
souri. 

If  comparison  were  made  of  the  growth  of  that  territory 
which  we  commonly  call  the  south— that  great  country  lying 
east  of  the  Mississippi  and  s#uth  of  the  Potomac  and  Ohio 
rivers — and  that  territory  commonly  known  as  the  north,  leav- 
ing out  the  above  named  states  included  by  the  Census  Bii- 


184  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

reau,  while  accurate  statistics  are  not  yet  at  hand,  I  am  confident 
that  such  a  comparison  would  show  that  the  percentage  of  in- 
crease in  the  south  has  been  at  least  twice  as  great  as  in  the 
north. 

A  few  of  the  causes  of  this  accelerated  rate  of  growth  in  the 
south  ma}-  be  named  as  the  discovery  of  her  valuable  mineral 
deposits  and  the  enormous  increase  in  all  manufacturing  indus- 
tries ;  and  the  favorable  climate  of  the  south,  making  it  possi- 
ble for  employees  to  live  more  cheaply  and  laore  comfortably 
tiian  in  the  north.  Her  inexhaustible  mineral  deposits  and  her 
fertile  soil  existed  before  1861,  but  the  presence  of  slavery  re- 
pelled immigration  and  capital,  and  naturally  constrained  south- 
ern political  leaders  to  use  their  influence  to  keep  capital  and 
labor  out.  Senator  Hammond  of  South  Carolina  lamented  in 
1856  that  to  his  own  knowledge  floating  capital  was  leaving 
Charleston  at  the  rate  of  $500,000  a  year  and  going  outside  of 
South  Carolina  for  investment,  and  that  this  exodus  had  been 
under  way  for  many  years.  But  during  the  payt  decade  all  this 
is  changed.  Capital  is  not  going  out  of  the  state,  but  coming 
in.  Neither  capital  nor  labor  is  repelled,  but  invited.  For  all 
honorable  men,  ivlw  can  contribute  to  the  advancement  of  the 
great  New  South,  whether  by  brain,  brawn  or  capital,  a  gen- 
erous, zvhole-souled ,  hospitable  people  have  only  the  ivord  of 
welcome.  That  these  facts  are  becoming  known  and  are  bear- 
ing their  fruit  is  evidenced  by  this,  that  the  capital  invested  in 
manufactures  in  South  Carolina  alone  in  the  ten  years  ending 
1900  increased  130  per  cent,  the  manufacturing  establishments 
grew  57  per  cent,  and  there  was  an  expansion  of  y^,  per  cent  in 
the  wages  paid  their  workers.  Practically  the  same  thing  can 
be  said  of  all  the  south.  No  such  proportionate  gain  has  been 
made  in  the  north.  Fifteen  years  ago  the  raw  product  of  the 
cotton  field  in  the  south  was  all  shipped  to  the  north  to  be  wov- 
en into  cloth.  Today  hundreds  of  cotton  mills  in  the  south 
represent  the  investment  of  millions  of  dollars  and  the  employ- 
ment of  thousands  of  men,  women  and  children,  and  the  num- 
ber is  constantly  increasing. 

'  By  way  of  illustration,  permit  me  to  cite  the  city  of  my  resi- 
dence and  pastorate.  Newberry,  South  Carolina,  increasing  in 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  185 

population  in  the  decade  about  60  per  cent ;  the  building  of  a 
cotton  mill  having  an  actual  capital  stock  of  $350,000,  employ- 
ing 700  hands,  another  mill  now  in  process  of  erection,  with 
an  actual  capital  of  $500,000,  which  will  employ  about  750 
hands  and  add  not  less  than  1,500  to  the  city's  population  with- 
in twelve  months ;  the  possibility  of  the  erection  of  a  third  mill 
within  a  few  years,  and  the  confident  estimate  on  the  part  of 
conservative  men  that  the  population  of  the  city  will  increase 
50  per  cent  within  the  next  decade. 

The  value  of  the  south's  mineral  products,  iron,  coal,  oil, 
phosphates  and  other  things  which  was  in  1880  $21,000,000, 
had  risen  to  $171,000,000  in  1900,  an  increase  more  than  eight- 
fold in  twenty  years.  The  growth  of  mineral  production  in 
the  north  was  small  compared  with  this  marvelous  expansion. 
A  closer  search  for  these  and  other  sorts  of  minerals  promises 
to  make  the  south's  growth  in  this  field  still  more  rapid  in  the 
decade  which  will  end  in  19 10. 

One  illustration  will  be  sufficient:  The  great  Flat  Top  coal 
fields  of  Virginia  and  West  Virginia.  From  the  Rev.  W.  H. 
Greever,  who  was  for  years  our  faithful  and  successful  mis- 
sionary on  this  territory.  I  have  learned  that  it  begins  properly 
with  Bluefield  on  the  east  and  ends  with  Welch  on  the  west; 
though  the  lumber  and  coal  business  is  continually  growing 
westward  until  it  has  practically  opened  up  the  vast  country 
extending  to  the  Ohio.  Welch  is  only  about  thirty  miles  west 
of  Bluefield.  In  that  limited  territory  alone  there  is  now  a  pop- 
ulation of  from  75,000  to  100,000,  where  a  few  years  ago  there 
was  only  a  small  number  of  scattered,  ignorant  mountaineers. 
As  an  illustration  of  the  wonderful  development  of  this  sec- 
tion let  me  say  that  lands  which  could  have  been  bought  not 
long  ago  for  a  few  cents  an  acre  recently  changed  hands,  in 
part  only,  at  a  consideration  of  the  enormous  sum  of  thirty-nine 
million  dollars.  The  growth  in  value  of  property  and  in  popu- 
lation in  this,  perhaps  the  greatest  soft  coal  field  in  the  world, 
experts  tell  us  has  just  begun. 

The  agricultural  development  of  the  south  has  not  kept  pace 
with  its  growth  in  mining  and  manufacturing,  but  the  people 
of  the  north  and  west  are  learning  that  in  the  south  the  soil, 


186  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

whicli  can  bo  tilled  from  January  to  November,  is  as  fertile 
as  the  most  productive  garden  spots  of  north  or  west;  that  it 
can  be  cultivated  with  less  labor  than  is  required  in  the  north 
and  with  greater  certainty  of  results  than  in  the  west;  that 
farming  lands  can  be  purchased  more  cheaply  than  in  the  north, 
by  reason  of  the  fact  that  few  southern  men  have  learned  to 
cultivate  their  lands  as  do  the  northern  farmers,  and  many 
small  holders  have  sought  employment  in  the  factories,  leaving 
their  farms  to  be  tilled  by  negroes.  These  conditions  have  al- 
ready attracted  thousands  of  families,  and  as  the  great  South- 
ern Railway  company  and  other  trunk  lines,  growing  more 
rapidly  than  in  any  other  section,  reach  out  their  gigantic  arms 
making  every  point  accessible,  and  bringing  these  facts  to  the 
knowledge  of  home-seekers,  they  will  settle  there  in  increasing 
numbers. 

All  this  territory,  with  its  wonderful  development,  is  "Our 
Home  Mission  Field  South."  Of  its  vast  extent  some  adequate 
idea  may  be  given  by  comparison.  The  area  of  Florida,  Ala- 
bama, Georgia,  Mississippi.  South  Carolina,  North  Carolina 
and  Virginia  is  greater  than  that  of  New  England,  the  Middle 
States,  Maryland,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois    and  Michigan. 

In  the  Southern  States  just  named  the  whole  field,  as  prom- 
ising as  any  to  our  church,  the  work  of  the  Lutheran  Church 
is  being  done  by  the  United  Synod  in  the  South  alone,  with  the 
exception  of  here  and  there  an  isolated  representative  of  the 
Missouri  Synod  or  of  the  Joint  Ohio  Synod. 

You  ask,  "Is  the  United  Synod  caring  for  the  Lutherans  of 
this  great  Southland?"  I  answer  you  frankly  that  in  common 
with  the  whole  Church,  of  every  name,  on  every  field, 
in  view  of  the  great  opportunity,  in  view  of  the  need,  in  view 
of  her  obligation,  in  view  of  our  Lord's  command — of  her  it 
cannot  be  said  that  "She  hath  done  what  she  could."  But  I 
do  say,  honestly  and  conscientiously,  that,  considering  her  num- 
erical strength  and  financial  ability,  there  is  no  branch  of  the 
church  of  Jesus  Christ,  of  Lutheran  or  other  name,  that  is  do- 
ing more  to  meet  its  obligation  than  are  some  of  the  district 
synods  of  the  United  Synod. 

There  are  in  the  United  Synod  eight  district  synods.     Dur- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  187 

ing  the  bicnniuni  closing  in  the  autumn  of  1901,  one  of  these 
synods  contributed  to  the  work  of  Home  Missions  18  1-2  cents 
per  capita ;  another  19  3-5  cents ;  another  20  cents ;  another 
which  has  within  its  bounds  t,^  pastorates,  1 1  of  which  are  mis- 
sions, contributed  50  cents  per  capita.  The  total  communicant 
membership  of  the  United  Synod  is  less  than  40,000;  many  of 
her  churches  are  missions ;  several  of  the  synods  are  almost  en- 
tirely missionary  territory ;  she  has  no  men  of  great  wealth 
and  very  few  who  in  the  north  would  be  counted  even  moder- 
ately rich  men ;  yet  she  is  making  a  herioc  effort  to  care  for  her 
own  people  and  provide  for  those  of  her  faith  coming  from  the 
north  and  west.  By  her  constant  aid  the  church  at  Richmond, 
Va.,  has  become  self-supporting.  Within  the  decade  she  plant- 
ed the  church  in  Norfolk,  Va.,  bringing  it  within  the  past  year 
almost  to  a  condition  of  self-support.  Less  than  four  years 
ago  she  sent  her  missionary  to  Newport  News,  Va.,  and  expects 
the  same  result  there  in  a  few  years.  Faithful  men  have  sought 
to  care  for  our  Lutheran  interests  at  Asheville,  N.  C,  Atlanta, 
Ga.,  and  other  cities,  and  if  they  could  have  had  adequate  and 
proper  support  must  have  succeeded  as  fully  as  those  at  former 
places  named.  , 

A  recent  canvass  of  the  city  of  Burnswick.  Ga.,  found  many 
Lutherans.  The  South  Carolina  Synod  now  has  in  the  field 
as  its  traveling  missionary  Rev.  S.  T.  Hallman,  D.  D.,  who  has 
found  in  such  cities  as  Greenwood  and  Spartanburg  many 
Lutherans  longing  for  the  church  of  their  fathers.  To  him 
appeals  come  from  Saluda,  Florence  and  other  important 
cities,  begging  for  speedy  organization  of  congregations.  To 
the  Board  of  Missions  of  the  United  Synod  comes  the  most, 
earnest  plea  for  help  from  the  great  state  of  Mississippi,  where 
a  few  earnest  pastors,  with  little  help,  supporting  themselves 
by  manual  labor,  care  for  congregations  i;ir  apart,  number- 
ing together  700  communicant  members,  with  many  calls  to 
organize  congregations  at  other  points  in  the  state. 

In  view  of  these  few  instances,  selected  from  mam',  of  what 
she  has  done  and  is  doing,  the  answer  to  our  questions  is  very 
plain.  The  L^nited  Synod  in  the  South  is  seeking  to  do  her 
best  to  care  for  the  Lutheran  interests  within  her  bounds.     If 


i88  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

she  has  reached  or  approached  the  hmit  of  her  abiHty  it  is 
equally  clear  that  alone  she  cannot  hope  to  meet  the  rapidly 
growing  need.  Should  she  be  expected  to  do  so  alone?  The 
answer  is  not  mine,  but  is  forced  upon  us  by  the  facts. 

Whence  comes  this  increased  population?  It  is  certain  that 
they  are  not  southern  born.  Take,  by  way  of  illustration,  the 
city  of  Newport  News,  Va.  In  1890  its  population  was  not 
more  than  2,500;  today  it  is  not  less  than  25,000.  Here  the 
United  Synod  has  not  only  placed  a  missionary,  whom  it  is 
now  supporting,  but  has  provided  for  our  Lutheran  congre- 
gation a  church  home.  For  whom  was  this  done  ?  At  the  out- 
set for  Lutherans  from  the  north  and  west  as  well  as  from  the 
south — who  compose  perhaps  50  per  cent  of  the  new  congre- 
gation. Practically  the  same  thing  may  be  said  of  Norfolk,  Va., 
of  Asheville,  N.  C,  of  Atlanta,  Ga.,  and  of  almost  every  mis- 
sion point  in  the  south.  In  some  sections  almost  the  entire 
new  population  is  not  native  born,  and  in  some  sections  is  al- 
most entirely  Lutheran,  as  in  the  recently  established  colonies 
of  Scandinavians  on  the  James  river  in  Virginia,  and  of  hun- 
dreds of  Finns  brought  into  South  Carolina  by  the  Atlantic 
Coast  Lumber  company,  who  are  said  to  be  but  the  forerunners 
of  thousands  to  follow. 

As  further  illustrative  of  the  same  facts,  permit  me  to  quote 
fro!7i  a  letter  relative  to  the  Flat  Top  Coal  field  territory  of  Vii 
ginia :  "There  are  loyal  Lutherans  scattered  throughout  the 
territory  anxious  to  co-operate  with  missionaries  of  their  own 
church  in  eflrorts  to  reach  the  great  population.  What  is  the 
Lutheran  Church  doing  for  the  salvation  of  this  needy  people? 
Two  men  are  at  work  with  but  scant  support !  Scarcelv 
enough  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  scattered  members  of  our  own 
church  now  in  the  field !  Comparatively  nothing  for  the  thous- 
ands not  in  any  church  !  And  nothing  for  the  increase  of  popu- 
lation which  is  already  pouring  into  the  territory.  Absolutely 
and  literally  nothing  for  the  great  field  of  several  hundred  miles 
to  the  w^est  of  this  one.  The  nearest  neighbor  to  our  Lutheran 
pastor  at  Graham,  Va.,  on  the  west,  is,  perhaps.  Rev.  Geo.  H. 
Schnur  at  Chillicothe.  Ohio.  And  this  too  is  border  territory, 
though  it  is  in  the  bounds  of  the  U^nited  Synod  and  should  be 
left  there.     An  opportunity  for  co-operation !" 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  loy 

Yes,  an  opportunity  for  co-operation — timely,  practical, 
necessary !  Co-operation  in  the  spirit  of  Christian  brother- 
hood. Christian  confidence  like  that  evidenced  by  the  General 
Council  in  its  appeal  to  the  General  Synod  for  its  help  in  its 
India  field,  and  by  the  General  Synod  in  its  response  to  that  ap- 
peal by  the  assignment  of  Dr.Harpster  to  his  new  post  of  ser- 
vice for  our  one  Lutheran  Faith ! 

I  speak  to  you  tonight  not  as  the  representative  of  the  United 
Synod  in  the  South,  but  as  a  Lutheran.  I  speak  to  you  not  of  the 
L^nited  Synod  Mission  field,  but  of  "Our  Mission  Field  South," 
and  the  facts  already  cited  show  that  as  of  no  other  section  of 
our  land  this  is  the  true  designation.  It  is  "Our  Mission 
Field"  and  "our"  means  not  alone  United  Synod,  but  as  well 
General  Council  and  General  Synod.  I  am  not  here  to  appeal 
for  help.  The  facts  are  the  appeal.  Through  them  the  voices 
of  your  own  people  speak  to  you,  brethren  of  the  General 
Synod,  brethren  of  the  General  Council.  Forth  from  you  they 
have  come,  are  coming  to  us.  We  will  do  what  we  can  to  care 
for  them,  but  w^  say  to  you  frankly  that  we  cannot  do  it  alone. 

How  can  you  care  for  your  own  who  come  to  us  ?  By  send- 
ing your  own  missionaries,  and  establishing  here  and  there 
isolated  missions,  far  from  your  district  synods  and  minister- 
iums?  No,  for  many  reasons  this  would  be  impracticable. 
How  can  you  care  for  them?  I  believe  that  there  is  but  one 
way,  and  that  way  through  practical  co-operation  with  us.  We 
are  the  United  Synod  of  the  South — united  not  alone  in  the 
sense  that  ours  is  a  union  of  district  synods  in  the  southern 
states,  but  united  in  this  that  we  are  a  united  Lutheran  Church. 
We  have  come  as  pastors,  as  people,  some  from  the  General 
Council,  some  from  the  General  Synod,  some  are  to  the  "man- 
ner born."  Some  of  us  received  our  theological  training  at  the 
Chicago  Seminary,  some  at  Gettysburg,  some  at  Mt.  Airy, 
some  at  Roanoke,  some  at  Newberry,  and  some  at  Hickory. 
But  we  are  united — united  in  our  common  faith ;  united  in  our 
love  to  our  Church ;  united  in  loyalty  to  her  pure  doctrines. 

The  facts  appeal  for  your  co-operation  in  our  united  work. 
The  method  of  that  co-operation  you  must  determine  when 
your  general  bodies  meet  in  deliberative  assembly.     Northern 


190  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

capital,  aiding  in  the  development  of  the  New  South  in  ma- 
terial things,  has  received  its  reward  in  annually  increasing 
dividends.  Here  is  the  example  which  should  be  followed  by 
the  nothern  church,  and  richest  spiritual  returns  will  be  her 
reward. 


THE  SPIRITUAL  PRIESTHOOD  OF  BELIEVERS. 
By  the  Rev.  John  A.  Hall,  D.  D. 

The  normal  relation  between  God  and  His  people  and  of  His 
people  to  Him  is  that  of  fellowship.  And  since  God  is  Father 
and  redeemed  men  are  His  children,  the  ideal  of  this  fellowship 
is  that  of  the  family.  In  the  scriptures  this  relation  is  some- 
times set  forth  under  the  analogue  of  a  city,  sometimes  under 
that  of  a  spiritual  kingdom,  sometimes  under  that  of  a  shep- 
herd and  his  flock.  But  the  idea  that  underlies  is  that  of  a 
spiritual  society,  in  which  all  are  equals,  because  all  sustain  the 
same  relation  to  God.  The  prayer  of  Christ  in  which  the  di- 
vine purpose  finds  its  expression  is,  "That  they  all  may  be  one 
in  us." 

To  the  realization  of  such  a  society  in  time,  every  agency 
and  every  institution  in  the  history  of  Israel  was  made  to  con- 
tribute. The  fact  that  out  of  that  soil  the  New  Testament 
Church  was  logically  developed,  the  fact  that  its  roots  are  to 
be  traced  to  Israel's  history  and  institutions,  is  sufficient  proof 
that  such  was  the  divine  purpose  in  the  establishment  of  both. 

And  this  was  also  the  purpose  of  the  wilderness  training, 
the  creation  of  a  spiritual  society,  a  society  in  which  the  mutual 
fellowship  of  God  with  His  people  and  of  His  people  with  each- 
other,  was  to  furnish  the  creative  and  sustaining  power. 

Now  in  the  establishment  of  such  a  society  two  things  in  the 
history  of  the  Hebrews  were  made  to  contribute.  First,  the 
giving  of  the  Ten  Commandments  with  their  proem.  With  a 
people  constitutionally  religious  as  were  the  Hebrews,  it  was 
impossible  that  the  environment  of  Egypt  should  be  without 
its  effect.  It  may  be  true  that  the  religion  of  Egypt  was  mono- 
theistic ;  if  it  was,  it  was  so  only  to  the  initiated.  To  the  ma- 
jority and  more  especially  to  those  whose  temperament  and 
training  were  alien  to  the  temperament  and  training  of  the 
Egyptian,  that  old  religion  was  pre-eminently  polytheistic.    In- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  191 

deed  everything-  was  calculated  to  impress  upon  the  mind  its 
polytheistic  character.  The  highways,  the  places  of  public  as- 
sembly, the  tombs  were  covered  with  the  symbols  of  her  mani- 
fold deities,  and  presiding  over  their  worship,  mediating  be- 
tween the  wqrshiper  and  the  deity,  there  stood  a  priesthood, 
the  like  of  which  for  assumed  sacredness  and  conceded  power, 
the  world  has  never  seen.  It  was  out  of  this  environment  that 
Israel  entered  the  school  of  the  wilderness. 

The  first  lesson  that  accordingly  needed  to  be  learned  was 
the  one  that  concerned  itself  with  the  being  and  nature  of  God. 
It  was  set  forth  in  what  is  known  as  the  proem  to  the  ten 
words.  "I  am  Jehovah,  the  God  who  delivered  thee  out  of 
Egypt  and  the  house  of  bondage,  thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods 
before  Me."  In  the  name,  Jehovah,  that  God  here  gives  Him- 
self, Israel  in  the  very  beginning  was  taught  the  vital  distinc- 
tions, that  in  His  very  nature,  separated  Him  from  the  gods 
of  Egypt.  He  was  the  One  having  life  in  Himself,  the  un- 
created, and  by  whom  all  things  were  made  that  are  made.  The 
name  itself  was  an  education. 

But  aside  from  what  the  name  taught  as  to  the  being  and 
nature  of  God,  the  proem  also  announced  that  His  purpose  in 
delivering  them  out  of  Egypt,  and  out  of  the  House  of  Bon- 
dage was,  that  He  might  make  out  of  them  a  people  for  Him- 
self, a  people  that  might  find  in  Him  a  God.  and  in  finding  in 
Him  a  God  also  find  in  each  other  brethren.  For  a  God  who 
is  spiritual,  a  God  whose  mighty  acts  are  declared  as  being 
wrought  for  all,  is  already  the  Creator  of  a  spiritual  society  of 
which  He  is  the  center,  and  of  which  all  that  are  drav/n  to  Him 
are  members. 

But  while  the  idea  of  a  spiritual  society  was  already  con- 
tained in  the  introduction  of  the  ten  words,  to  its  actual  form- 
ing, something  more  was  necessary.  Among  the  forces  look- 
ing to  that  end  the  establishment  of  the  priesthood  was,  without 
doubt,  the  most  prominent  factor.  For  seventeen  centuries  it 
held  its  place  in  Jewish  history  and  when  it  passed  away,  it  was 
that  it  might  give  place  to  that  for  which  it  has  been  the  prepa- 
ration— the  universal  priesthood  of  believers. 

Now  to  the  attainment  of  this  end  the  Old  Testament  priest- 
hood contributed  by  the  emphasis  that  it  placed  on  two  things. 


192  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

On  the  one  hand  it  taught  the  nature  of  the  relations  that  in 
such  a  spiritual  community,  must  in  the  nature  of  the  case, 
exist  between  God  and  His  people.  On  the  other  it  revealed 
the  necessity  of  a  perfect  mediator  and  high  priest,  through 
whom  these  relations  might  be  inaugurated  and  kept  alive. 

It  is  of  significance  that,  as  an  order,  if  such  it  may  be 
called,  the  priesthood  had  no  existence  until  the  people  were 
familiarized  with  it  in  Egypt.  But  even  as  an  order,  it  was  un- 
like any  similar  institution  of  Christian  times,  in  that  it  v/as 
representative.  It  derived  its  rights  from  the  people.  Even 
the  Hebrew  term,  by  which  the  order  was  designated  (Cohen) 
had,  as  its  primary  meaning  one  who  stands  for  another,  or 
who  mediates  for  another.  Accordingly  the  clan  or  tribe  to 
which  the  name  applied  was  consecrated  to  its  specific  work  by 
the  nation  itself.  Not  by  the  hands  of  Moses,  or  of  Aaron, 
but  by  the  hands  of  the  whole  assembly  of  the  children  of 
Israel  were  the  Levites  set  apart  and  then  presented  by  Aaron 
as  an  offering  of  the  children  of  Israel.  The  words  of  the  in- 
stitution are  these:  "And  thou  shalt  bring  the  Levites  before 
the  Lord  and  the  children  of  Israel  shall  put  their  hands  upon 
the  Levites,  and  Aaron  shall  oflfer  the  Levites  before  the  Lord 
for  an  ofiFering  of  Israel  that  they  may  execute  the  service  of 
the  Lord."  Thus  in  its  very  conception,  the  office  of  the  priest- 
hood was  representative  and  delegated.  In  his  official  capacity, 
the  priest  stood  for  the  whole  people  and  through  him  the  peo- 
ple were  conceived  as  acting. 

Now  this  was  a  truth  of  the  greatest  importance.  It  per- 
petually emphasized  the  fact  that  God  was  not  to  be  thought  of  as 
a  respecter  of  persons.  If  kept  constantly  in  the  foreground,  the 
truth  that  the  true,  the  ideal  priesthood,  was,  in  its  very  na- 
ture, universal,  and  that  while  for  a  time  its  functions  might 
be  confined  to  the  house  of  Levi,  still  its  essential  rights  be- 
longed to  the  people,  that  without  the  people  there  could  be  no 
priesthood  for  the  reason  that  it  was  the  people  that  made  the 
insitution. 

But  what  was  true  of  the  priesthood  was  also  true  of  the 
High  Priest  in  Whom  everything  belonging  to  the  priesthood 
gathered  itself  and  reached  its  culmination.     He,  too,  repre- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  1^3 

sented  the  whole  people.  All  Israel  was  conceived  as  being  in 
him.  The  prerogative  helfl  by  him  belonged  to  the  whole  of 
them,  but  was  transferred  to  him  because  it  was  impossible 
that  all  Israelities,  should,  at  all  times,  keep  themselves  holy 
as  became  a  high  priest  of  Jehovah. 

Thus  v/as  the  priesthood  of  the  Old  Testament  representa- 
tive. It  possessed  no  rights,  no  prerogatives,  that  were  not 
delegated.  It  existed  for  the  people.  It  was  their  sins  for 
which  he  made  atonement.  It  was  their  offering  of  blood  unto 
which  God  had  respect,  and  it  was  with  them  that  he  com- 
mimed. 

Cut  while  the  priesthood  was  thus  designed  to  articulate  the 
relations  that  God  sustained  to  all  His  people,  it  also  bore  wit- 
ness to  the  conditions  that  controlled  and  limited  that  relation- 
ship. It  was  true  that  God  was  no  respecter  of  persons.  It  was 
true  that  all  who  trusted  in  Him  were  members  of  His  family. 
But  it  was  also  true  that  He  was  the  Holy  One  of  Israel — the 
Being,  Who,  on  account  of  His  greatness  was  the  condescend- 
ing God  and  Who,  on  account  of  His  holiness,  required  hoH- 
ness  as  the  condition  of  fellowship.  This  was  the  truth  that 
constantly  found  its  expression  in  the  ministrations  of  the 
priesthood.  In  the  worship  of  the  Holy  One  the  people  were 
required  to  stand  at  an  awful  distance.  Nor  were  the  priests 
themselves,  even  when  consecrated,  permitted  to  traverse  all 
the  courts  of  the  tabernacle.  One  individual  alone  could  pass 
the  veil  into  the  presence  chamber  of  God,  and  he  only  in  such 
manner  as  was  calculated  to  impress  his  soul  with  the  intense 
sanctity  of  the  place — The  place  made  holy  because  the  dwell- 
ing-place of  the  Holy  One  of  Isreal.  And  thus  while  the 
priesthood  stood  as  a  perpetual  reminder  that  God  desired,  yea, 
sought  fellowship  with  His  people,  it  was  no  less  a  reminder 
of  His  infinite  Holiness — a  Holiness  that  was  not  rudely  to  be 
approached  and  that  demanded  holiness  as  the  indispensable 
requirement  and  condition  of  such  fellowship. 

And  so  it  came  that  on  its  doctrinal  side  the  Levitical  priest- 
hood stood  for  two  things.  It  taught,  that  as  to  His  nature, 
God  was  social,  that  He  was  no  respecter  of  persons.     But  it 


194  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

also  tauglit  that  as  a  condition  of  that  fellowship  into  which 
He  desired  to  enter  with  all.  holiness  was  indispensable.  Both 
of  these  truths  needed  to  be  explicated,  for  both  were  vital  to 
the  being  of  that  spiritual  family — the  universal  priesthood  to 
which  the  Levitical  looked.  The  disposition  of  God  to  fellow- 
ship with  all  needed  to  be  known,  but  the  condition  of  such  fel- 
lowship was  just  as  important,  for  without  likeness  in  charac- 
ter there  can  be  no  true  fellowship. 

But  the  office  of  the  priesthood  was  also  prophetic,  in  that 
it  emphasized  the  need  of  a  perfect  high  priest.  Out  of  its  own 
weakness  and  imperfections  it  spoke  of  the  need  of  a  perfect 
priest  and  a  perfect  offering,  and  so  made  known  what,  on 
his  priestly  side,  the  Messiah  was  both  to  be  and  to  do. 

And  here  it  ought  to  be  said  that  a  comparison  of  the  pro- 
phetic office  with  that  of  the  priestly  to  the  disparagement  of 
the  latter  is  entirely  unwarranted.  Both  were  necessary,  each 
was  the  complement  of  the  other.  In  speech  it  was  given  to 
the  prophet  to  instruct  the  people  and  to  herald  the  Messiah ; 
to  the  priest  it  was  given  also  to  teach,  and  in  dramatic  act  fore- 
tell His  coming.  Every  official  act  whether  of  preparation  or 
of  ministry,  particularly  in  the  ritual  of  the  liigh  priest  pointed 
to  Calvary  and  its  sacrifice  vvitli  a  distinctness  to  which  the 
words  of  the  prophet  sc'arcel}-  approached.  More  especially 
was  this  the  case  in  the  part  that  the  high  priest  took  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  great  da}-  of  atonement.  He  alone  entered  the 
sanctuary,  he  alone  conducted  the  ministry  of  the  awful  place. 
So  too,  in  v/hat  he  was  and  in  what  he  offered  there  was  a 
reminder  of  the  need  both  of  a  perfect  mediator  and  a  per- 
fect offering.  For  in  what  he  was.  even  the  high  priest  was 
imperfect.  Taken  from  among  men  he  was  indeed  the  posses- 
sor of  a  nature  identical  with  those  for  whom  he  stood,  but 
with  the  imperfection  that  he  shared  also  the  guilt  of  the  peo- 
ple. 

What  was  needed  was  something  more  than  a  likeness  in  na- 
ture ;  it  was  exemption  from  the  guilt  of  his  brethren  at  the 
moment  that  he  was  one  with  them  in  nature.  And  that  re- 
quirement no  priest,  taken  from  among  men.  could  possibly 
possess.     It  was  this  imperfection  that  stamped  the  Old  Testa- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  195 

meiit  priesthood  as  transitory,  that  classed  it  among  the  in- 
stitutions that  in  the  divine  purpose  were  to  pass  away,  and  that 
made  it  even  in  the  times  of  its  highest  attainment,  a  priest- 
hood that  was  to  be  absolutely  perfect. 

And  so  too,  it  was  with  the  offering.  It  also  was  imperfect, 
and,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  could  not  be  acceptable  to  God. 
It  could  not  be  that  the  Holy  One,  the  Jehovah,  should  be 
pleased  with  the  sacrifice  of  bulls  and  of  goats.  Spiritual  in 
His  nature,  but  one  sacrifice  could  be  wholy  acceptable — even 
ihat  of  infinite  lov 

Such  in  brief,  was  the  Old  Testament  priesthood,  and  such 
were  its  sacrifices.  Shadows,  prophesies  of  better  things  to 
come,  but  not  the  substance.  For  more  than  seventeen  centur- 
ies they  were  both  the  preparation  for  and  the  herald  of  better 
things.  Yet  as  an  institution  the  priesthood  taught  as  well  as 
any  institution  could  teach,  the  great  truths  that  needed  to  be 
made  known.  It  spoke  of  the  nature  of  God,  of  His  desire  for 
fellowship  with  all  men,  yet  emphasized  the  condition  on  which 
alone  fellowship  with  a  Holy  Being  could  be  had.  It  spoke  as 
plainly  as  any  institution  could  speak  of  the  infinite  need  of  a 
perfect  priest,  one  united  in  nature  with  his  brethren,  yet  free 
from  the  sinfulness  of  those  brethren.  It  spoke  as  profoundly 
as  any  institution  could,  of  the  imperfection  of  the  sacrifice ;  its 
utter  insignificance  as  an  atonement  for  man's  deep  transgres- 
sion, or  as  a  solvent  for  his  sins.  And  this  was  all  it  could  do. 
Weak,  inefificient,  temporal,  national,  the  herald  of  a  perfect 
priest  and  a  perfect  sacrifice,  as  an  institution  it  passed  away. 

But  while  the  institution  passed  away,  it  passed  that  it  might 
give  place  to  a  higher  and  a  better — even  that  for  which  it 
stood,  and  that  gave  to  it  its  significance  and  meaning.  So  far 
as  the  institution  was  temporal,  imperfect,  national,  it  crum- 
bled. So  far  as  it  was  universal  and  spiritual,  it  survived.  But 
even  on  this  side  it  was  enlarged,  spiritualized,  perfected.  For 
there  was  that  in  the  priesthood  that  could  not  pass  away,  and 
this  was  the  truths  that  gave  it  meaning.  It  is  still  as  true  as 
it  was  then,  that  God  is  Holy,  the  unapproachable,  save  through 
mediation.  It  is  still  true,  that  He  demands  holiness  as  the  in- 
dispensable condition  of  fellowship.     It  is  still  true  that  man 


>       6  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

needs  a  high  priest  to  mediate  between  him  and  God  and  the 
need  of  such  a  perfect  priest  is  still  as  it  was  then,  the  testi- 
mony of  every  earnest  soul. 

But  it  is  because  of  what  Christ  is,  because  of  His  supreme 
perfection,  because  of  His  oneness  with  God  and  His  oneness 
with  man,  because  that  in  Him  every  believer  is,  and  He  in 
every  believer,  that  His  priesthood  supplanted  and  destroyed 
that  of  which  it  was  the  archetype.  In  a  word,  because  of  the 
transcendent  perfection  of  His  nature  as  priest,  and  the  su- 
preme merit  of  His  blood  an  atonement  there  can  be  no  other 
after  Him.  In  the  perfection  of  His  priesthood  every  otlier 
priesthood  is  made  void ;  yea,  the  veriest  blasphemy. 

Let  us  now  look  at  that  priesthood,  which,  in  universal  his- 
tory, took  the  place  of  that  in  Jewish.  We  have  seen  that  the 
idea  of  the  universal  priesthood  of  God's  believing  people  was 
never  lost  sight  of  or  obscured.  All  along  it  was  the  people 
unto  whom  God  had  respect;  it  was  the  people  who  even 
through  the  high  priest,  were  conceived  as  ministering  before 
God.  And  that  idea  is  fundamental.  The  normal  right  of 
every  child  of  God  is,  that  of  being  his  own  priest.  And  this 
right  no  institution,  no  class  of  men  may  usurp.  In  God's  fam- 
ily there  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  bond  or  free,  priest  or  laity, 
holy  or  unholy.  A  universal  fatherhood  means  a  universal 
brotherhood,  equality  of  rights,  of  privileges,  and  above  all,  of 
access  and  of  fellowship  with  the  Father.  With  that  idea 
history  began.  In  the  patriarchal  age  each  man  was  his  own 
priest.  Not  until  the  children  of  Israel  left  Egypt  and  were 
placed  under  that  peculiar  polity  which,  by  the  hand  of 
Moses,  was  set  up  among  them,  do  we  hear  of  any  individual 
or  class  of  individuals  holding  the  ofifice  of  the  priesthood  as 
a  distinct  or  exclusive  privilege.  And  as  inspired  history  be- 
gan so  it  ended.  It  left  man  face  to  face  with  God,  no  mediator 
save  Christ.  It  made  of  redeemed  humanity  a  brotherhood  of 
priests.  That  such  was  the  divine  purpose  is  proven  in  the 
fact  that  such  was  the  end  attained.  No  where  in  the  New 
Testament  is  there  the  faintest  trace  of  a  special  class.  All 
are  one  in  Christ  Jesus.  All  belong,  through  faith,  to  the 
spiritual  community,  are  members  of  one  family,  claiming  the 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  197 

same  parentage,  heirs  of  the  same  promises,  living  under  the 
same  laws,  following  the  same  customs,  observing  the  same 
worship,  believing  in  the  same  Christ.  But  how  came  this  to 
be  ?  I  answer,  that  it  came  as  a  necessary  result  of  the  perfect 
Priesthood  of  Christ.  It  came  because  of  what  Christ  was  in 
Himself;  because  of  His  perfect  sacrifice;  be-ause  of  the  rela- 
tion, which  on  account  of  His  unique  person.  He  sustains  to 
the  race  and  through  faith  is  made  to  sustain  to  the  individual 
believer.  See  how  this  comes.  First  Christ  was  the  perfect 
High  Priest.  The  weakness  of  the  Levitical  priesthood  as  of 
every  priesthood  taken  from  among  men,  was  twofold.  On 
its  mediatorial  side  it  was  inefficient  through  the  sinfulness  of 
the  priest.  Sharing  the  sinfulness  of  his  brethren  even  the 
high  priest  required  to  be  cleansed  by  rites  and  offerings  in 
order  that  he  might  mediate  between  a  Holy  God  and  His  fel- 
lowmen.  Even  he  needed  the  mediation  of  one  standing  be- 
tween him  and  God. 

And  then  too,  on  its  representative  side  it  was  weak  in  that 
it  was  individual  and  narrow.  No  single  human  being  truly  can 
sympathize  with  every  other,  or  be  touched  with  a  feeling  for 
another's  infirmities.  That  this  may  be,  there  is  needed  one  in 
whose  soul  every  other  soul  is  represented,  one  whose  nature 
touches  that  of  every  man's  in  its  innermost  fiber.  And  such 
a  high  priest  is  Christ.  On  account  of  His  unique  person,  He 
is  at  once  the  Perfect  Mediator  and  High  Priest  of  His  people. 
While  partaker  of  flesh  and  blood  like  His  brethren,  yet  being 
the  Holy  One  of  God,  He  needed  no  offering  or  ablutions  to 
consecrated  Him  to  the  office  of  Priesthood.  In  the  constitution 
of  His  person  He  has  everything  that  can  be  desired  to  render 
Him  the  proper  head  and  high  priest  of  His  people.  In  Him 
the  arrangement  for  the  reconciling  of  heaven  and  earth  and 
re-establishing  the  lost  intercourse  between  man  and  his  crea- 
tor, is  absolutely  perfect.  On  the  one  side  as  the  beloved  Son 
of  God,  He  has,  at  all  times,  free  access  to  the  presence  of  the 
Father  and  in_  whatever  He  asks  must  also  have  power  as  a 
prince  to  prevail.  On  the  other,  as  the  representative  of  His 
people,  as  one  in  nature  with  them,  they  can,  at  all  times,  make 
known  with  confidence  to  Him  the  sins  and  sorrows  of  their 
condition,  recognizing  that  what  is  His,  is  also  theirs,  can  rise 


198  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

with  filial  boldness  to  realize  their  near  relationship  to  God 
and  their  full  participation  in  the  favor  and  blessing  of  heaven. 
But  just  because  He  is  the  Perfect  Priest,  He  is  also  the  end 
of  the  priestly  order.  Because  of  what  He  is,  there  can  be  no 
other.  And  then  too,  he  was  the  Perfect  Sacrifice.  At  best 
the  sacrifices  of  the  Old  Tstament  were  representative.  They 
could,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  be  no  more.  The  thing  oflfered 
could  not  be  the  ofiferer.  And  yet  it  was  this  that  was  needed 
to  the  ofifering  of  a  perfect  sacrifice.  But  in  Christ  there  is  no 
distinction  between  the  sacrifice  and  the  ofifering.  The  one 
great  ofifering  through  which  He  finished  trangressions,  made 
an  end  of  sin,  and  brought  in  the  everlasting  righteousness, 
was  at  once  furnished  by  Himself  and  ofifered  by  Himself.  He 
gave  Himself  to  death  as  thus  laden  with  their  guilt,  an  offer- 
ing of  a  sweet  smelling  savor  to  God,  and  rose  again  for  their 
justification  as  one  fully  able  of  himself  to  prove  and  to  do 
everything  that  was  necessary  to  close  up  the  breach  which 
sin  had  made  between  man  and  God.  But  as  after  the  perfect 
priest,  there  can  be  no  other,  so  after  the  perfect  sacrifice* there 
can  be  no  other  that  is  meritorious.  His  blood.  His  sacrifice. 
His  righteousness  so  precluded  every  other  as  that  the  thought 
of  any  other  as  being  acceptable  to  the  taking  away  of  sin,  is, 
in  itself,  sinful.  I  do  not  mean  by  that,  that  the  sacrifice  of  a 
broken  spirit  and  a  contrite  heart,  on  account  of  the  sacrifice 
made  by  Christ,  is  unacceptable.  I  do  not  mean  that  good 
works,  because  of  the  perfect  sacrifice  of  Christ,  are  made  evil 
or  repugnant  to  God.  This  is  the  meaning;  that  even  these, 
are  in  the  truest  and  the  best  sense,  His,  for  it  is  His  spirit  that 
worketh  in  us ;  it  is  His  sacrifice  alone,  whether  wrought  in  His 
own  person  and  life,  or  in  us  by  His  spirit,  that  is  acceptable 
to  God,  for  He  and  the  believer  are  one. 

First  and  last  His  priesthood  is  the  only  acceptable  priest- 
hood. His  sacrifice  the  only  sacrifice  that  can  atone  for  sin. 

But  the  uniqueness  of  Christ's  person,  by  virtue  of  which  He 
becomes  the  Perfect  Priest  and  the  Perfect  Sacrifice,  also  en- 
larges the  priesthood  that  is  established  through  and  in  Him. 
Because  of  the  transcendent  nature  of  His  person,  the  priest- 
hood as  an  order  of  necessity  passes  away,  and  by  the  same 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  199 

necessity  becomes  universal.  For  who  is  this  perfect  priest? 
Who  is  this  one  who  has  entered  into  the  heavenly  sanctuary, 
bearing  His  blood  as  an  atonement?  It  is  He  who  called  him- 
self the  Son  of  Man.  It  is  He,  who.  in  styling  Himself,  the 
Son  of  Man,  sets  Himself  forth  as  the  embodiment  of  liuman 
nature  in  its  archetypal  form.  It  is  the  One  in  Whom  the  be- 
''rver  lives,  in  Whom  the  life  of  tlie  believer  i  lost — hid  with 
him  in  God.  It  is  the  universal  man ;  the  One  so  completely  the 
embodiment  of  hhmanity  as  that  His  righteousness  as  well  as 
His  sufferings  are  made  the  righteousness  and  suffering  of  the 
believing  soul.  So  intimately  united  with  the  race  by  the  mys- 
tery of  His  incarnation  as  that  in  the  words  of  Luther  He  can 
say,  "I  am  that  sinner."  That  is,  "His  guilt  and  ptmishment 
belong  to  me ;"  and  that  the  believer  can  say  by  faith,  "I  am 
Christ,"  that  is,  "His  death  and  His  righteousness  belong  to 
:;it."  It  is  by  virtue  of  the  vital  relation  that  He  sustains  to 
the  believer,  and  the  believer  to  Him,  that  He  was  indeed 
■  made  sin  for  us,  who  knew  no  sin,  that  He  was  indeed  wound- 
ed for  our  ti  ansgressionS;  that  the  chast'r-ement  of  our  peace 
was  upon  Him  and  by  His  stripes  we  are  healed." 

Let  us  own  that  we  are  here  in  the  presence  of  a  mystery. 
The  union  of  the  divine  and  the  human  accomplished  in  the  in- 
carnation on  account  of  which  the  believer  is  made  one  with 
Christ  is  confessedly  not  for  the  understanding  to  fathom.  It 
is  sufficient  for  our  faith  to  know  that  the  scriptures  in  which 
it  is  asserted,  are  numerous,  varied  and  explicit.  The  sixth 
chapter  of  John,  the  farewell  address  of  Christ,  the  interces- 
sory prayer  are  full  of  it.  We  are  one  with  Christ,  even  as  He 
is  One  with  the  Father,  as  the  branch  is  one  with  the  vine,  as 
the  wife  is  one  with  the  husband,  as  the  members  are  one  with 
the  body.  And  this  union  is  not  only  legal,  but  vital.  He 
dwells  in  us  and  we  in  Him,  even  our  bodies  as  well  as  our 

!uls,  are  united  by  faith  with  Christ.  And  here  it  should  not 
be  forgotten  that  this  vital  union  of  Christ  with  the  believer, 
and  of  the  believer  with  Christ,  on  account  of  which  the  be- 
liever is  made  a  priest,  is  the  logical  outcome  of  a  true  under- 
standing of  the  incarnation.  I  own  that  it  has  nothing  to  do 
with  this  discussion,  but  at  this  time  and  in  this  place  I  will 
be  pardoned  for  saying,  that  the  distinctive  view  of  the  incar- 


200  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

nation  that  holds  within  it  the  key  of  the  problem  of  the  rela- 
tion of  God  and  man  and  in  which  that  problem  is  summarized, 
has  been  the  contribution  of  the  Lutheran  Church  to  contsruc- 
tive  theology.  The  men  who  have  most  nearly  solved  the 
problem  of  that  relation,  and  the  profound  meaning  of  the 
sacrarfient  that  grows  out  of  it,  have  been  men  of  the  land,  and 
the  children  of  Luther.  The  theologians  of  other  lands  and 
churches  that  have  today  attempted,  througii  the  incarnation, 
to  vivify  theology  and  relate  it  to  modern  knowledge,  are  only 
paying  an  unconscious  tribute  to  the  faith  and  the  insight  of  the 
reformer  and  his  sons.  I  do  not  mean  that  to  them  it  was 
given  as  a  new  or  special  revelation,  for  it  was  not.  It  wa 
lather  the  insight  that  they  had  into  the  cadin^.I  truth  of  jus- 
tifying faith,  that  enabled  them  to  see  the  relation  of  that  truth 
to  the  incarnation,  and  that  of  the  incarnation  to  it.  Every 
great  truth  is  luminous.  From  every  such  truth  perceived, 
tlicrc  lariiciies  a  light  in  the  brightness  of  which  some  other 
truth  is  the  better  understood.  It  was  so  with  the  truth  of 
justifying  faith  in  Christ.  For  the  question  that  it  was  sure 
to  suggest  was  this,  "how  comes  it  that  faith  justifies?"  Faith 
in  itself  has  and  can  have  no  merit.  And  the  answer  was,  faith 
justifies  through  the  union  that  it  effects  between  the  believer 
and  Christ. 

But  that  unity  not  only  justifies ;  it  also  makes  out  of  every 
believer  a  priest  of  God.  On  account  of  the  living  unity  into 
which  faith  brings  us  with  Christ,  His  sacrifice  not  only  be- 
comes that  of  the  believers,  but  in  Him  the  believer  is  made  a 
high  priest.  United  to  Him  we  partake  in  every  gift  and  dis- 
tinction which  belongs  to  Christ,  we  are  made  priests  of  His 
spiritual  !';(  t  se,  chosen  in  Christ,  we  are  in  Him  constituted  a 
royal  piicst!.ood  to  oft'er  up  spiritual  sac.•illce^.  'j'o  interpose 
any  others  as  priests  between  the  believer  and  Christ,  is  to 
traverse  ihe  order  of  God  and  subvert  the  ar.^mgements  of  His 
house.  It  is  to  shut  anew  the  way  into  the  holiest  which  Christ 
has  laid  fully  open ;  it  is  to  disparage  the  Christ  in  Whose  life 
we  live,  and  in  Whose  rigliteousness  we  are  accepted. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  201 

REMARKS. 
The  Rev.  Dr.  Jacobs  spoke  appreciatingly  of  the  carefully 
prepared  and  eloquent  paper  of  Dr.  Hall.    The  main  point  to 
b(>  kept  'n  ■'.iew  he  thought  was  that  u'nl'-  the  New  Testa- 
ment, there  are  but  two  priesthoods,  one  that  of  Jesus  Christ 
our  Great  High  Priest,  who  has  offered  once  for  all  the  only 
propitiatory  sacrifice  on  the  altar  of  the  cross,  and  the  other 
that  of  every  believing  man  and  woman  and  child,  without  dis- 
tinction of  order,  made  spiritual  priests  to  offer  the  eucharistic 
sacrifices  of  prayer,  praise  and  thanksgiving.    The  ministry  of 
the  word  and  sacraments  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  priest- 
hood ;  ministers  of  the  Gospel  are  in  no  sense  priests.    The  min- 
istry is  an  office  not  an  order,  least  of  all  a  self-perpetuating 
order.    The  ministry  is  simply  the  executive  of  the  congrega- 
tion for  the  discharge  of  duties  God    has    committed    to    the 
Church,  i.  e.,  to  each  and  every  congregation,  "where  two  or 
three  are  pdhered  together  in  Christ's  naav."     No  duties  of 
the  spiritual  priesthood  are  transferable  to  the  ministry.     The 
public  preaching  of  the  Word  and  administration  of  sacraments 
belong  not  to  the  priesthood  as  such,  but  to  the  assembly  of 
.spiritual  priests  collectively,  i.  e.,  the  church  or  congregation. 
Reference  was  made  to  Luther's  classical  work,  "The  Freedom 
of  a  Christain"  of  1520.  and  to  Spener's  important,  but  brief 
treatment  of  "The  Spiritual  Priesthood"  in  seventy  questions 
and  answers,  with  an  allusion  to  a  one-sided  development  of 
the  subject  that  had  charactized  the  Pietistic  revolt  against  the 
other  extreme. 


The  Rev.  Dr.  Bauslin  said : — 

The  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century  brought  to  the 
front  three  fundamental  but  neglected  principles  of  Christianity. 
The  first  of  these  was  what  has  been  rightly  denominated  the 
material  principle  of  the  Reformation,  viz.,  Justification  by 
Faith.  The  second  was  the  formal  principle  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, viz.,  the  supremacy  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  the  only 
infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice.  A  third  principle  re-af- 
firmed by  that  great  and  vitalizing  movement  we  might  call 
the  social  principle  or  the  priesthood  of  all  believers,  the  re- 


202  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

assertion  of  the  direct  access  of  men  to  God  without  any  sort 
of  mediation. 

All  these  principles  are  fundamental  in  the  Lutheran  appre- 
hension of  the  gospel  and  the  organization  of  the  church. 
There  are  no  indications  of  any  sort  of  abandonment  or  mini- 
mizing even  of  these  principles  among  us.  Their  prominence 
among  us  and  the  fidelity  with  which  these  principles  have 
always  been  asserted  by  Lutherans,  make  any  so-called  "High 
Church"  tendencies  among  us  impossible.  That  term  is  a  mis- 
nomer among  us.  So  long  as  Lutheranism  cherishes  and  holds 
fast  to  these  principles,  which  have  been  prominent  in  its  en- 
tire history,  any  tendency  to  Romanism  among  us  is  about  as 
probable  as  that  the  chairman  of  this  Conference  will  be  made 
a  Cardinal  or  that  the  Pope  will  come  to  America  next  sum- 
mer to  participate  in  a  Methodist  camp-meeting. 


ARE     OUR     PRESENT     METHODS     OF     SUNDAY 
SCHOOL  WORK  ADEQUATE  ? 

By  the  Rev.  D.  H.  Geissinger,  D.  D. 

I  understand  "Methods"  to  include  everything  pertaining  to 
the  Sunday  School,  organization,  administration,  apparatus,  les- 
son systems,  teaching  principles  and  practice,  sessions,  services 
and  everything  else  that  belongs  to  or  that  enters  into  the  oper- 
ation of  the  specific  work  carried  on  in  this  department  of  the 
activity  of  the  Church. 

"Adequate"  I  take  to  mean,  fully  sufficient  to  secure  the  de- 
sired object,  or  at  least  sufficient  to  secure  such  object  to  a 
reasonable  and  fairly  satisfactory  extent. 

This  definition  of  the  term  "Adequate"  makes  it  necessary 
at  the  very  beginning  of  the  study  of  our  subject  to  ask,  What 
is  the  object  of  the  Sunday  School?  What  is  the  primary  and 
chief  purpose  which  the  Sunday  School  is  intended  to  sub- 
serve ? 

It  seems  strange  to  ask  such  a  question.  It  would  be  super- 
fluous, if  not  really  out  of  order  to  ask  such  a  question  in  an 
assembly  of  intelligent  Lutherans,  if  it  were  not  for  the  fact 
that  there  are  abroad  in  the  world  very  divergent  conceptions 
of  the  nature  and  purpose  of  the  Sunday  School  from  those 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  203 

which  we  hold.  Because  of  these  divergent  views  it  is  neces- 
sary in  a  public  conference  and  discussion  to  define  clearly  our 
Lutheran  position  on  the  Sunday  School  question.  This  will 
help  us  to  see  eye  to  eye  as  Lutherans,  and  it  will  fortify  us 
against  the  subtle  encroachments  of  unsound  principles  and 
theories,  and  help  to  save  our  people  from  the  baleful  conse- 
quences of  erroneous  and  demoralizing  practices. 

The  very  fact  that  most  of  the  histories  of  the  Sunday 
School  trace  its  origin  to  Robert  Raikes  betrays  an  entire  mis- 
conception of  what  we  understand  this  institution  to  be,  and  to 
be  for.  Raikes'  school  had  no  direct  connection  with  the 
Church.  It  was  an  effort  on  the  part  of  a  benevolent  man  to 
take  ragged,  noisy,  uncared-for  urchins  off  the  street  on  the 
Lord's  day.  It  was  a  Sunday  School  only  because  it  was  held 
on  Sunday.  Its  primary  object  was  to  keep  the  children  in- 
doors, to  instruct  them  in  the  simple  rudiments  of  knowledge 
and  in  the  catechism,  and  to  improve  their  morals. 

Now  according  to  our  idea  of  the  Sunday  School,  as  to  its 
essential  character,  principles  and  purposes,  we  must  trace  it 
to  the  Garden  of  Eden.  The  first  thing  God  did  after  the  crea- 
tion of  man  was  to  instruct  him.  So  about  the  very  first  thing 
in  the  order  of  human  history  is  a  Sunday  School  session. 
That  was  a  small  school.  The  conditions  seem  to  have  been 
entirely  favorable.  The  methods  must  have  been  perfect.  And 
yet,  from  our  human  point  of  view,  they  were  not  adequate. 

As  we  understand  it,  the  Sunday  School  is  simply  the  or- 
ganized, teaching  activity  of  the  Church.  Sunday  School  is 
not  an  adequate  designation.  Bible  School  or  Church  School 
would  be  better.  From  the  very  beginning  the  children  have 
constituted  a  large  part  of  the  Church.  The  feeding  of  the 
lambs  has  been  always  an  important  duty  of  the  Church. 

Provision  has  always  been  made  for  the  discharge  of  this 
duty  in  the  arrangements  and  in  connection  with  the  ordi- 
nances of  the  Church. 

And  this  matter  has  been  more  or  less  faithfully  attended  to 
during  the  entire  history  of  the  Church.  There  have  been, 
indeed,  times  when  neither  the  children  nor  the  adults  have  re- 
ceived much  spiritual  instruction,  and  yet  there  never  \^■as  a 


204  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

time  when  some  instruction  was  not  given,  in  some  form,  to 
some  part  of  the  Church. 

The  apostolic  commission  co-ordinates  the  teaching  with  the 
preaching  function  of  the  Church.  Preaching,  baptizing, 
teaching  are  the  means,  involving  the  divinely  ordained  meth- 
ods for  the  discipling  of  the  nations. 

The  idea  underlying  our  word  "Disciple"  contains  the  true 
conception  of  the  Sunday  School.  A  disciple  is  literally  a 
learning  youth ;  one  who  attends  upon  a  teacher,  or  follows  a 
teacher  in  order  that  he  may  learn,  one.  be  he  adult  or  child, 
who  learns  in  the  spirit  of  childhood. 

So,  over  against  those  who  claim  that  the  Sunday  School  is 
apart  from  the  Church,  that  it  is  merely  a  human  institution, 
that  it  is  of  modern  origin  and  growth  ;  we  claim  that  the 
Sunday  School,  rightly  understood,  is  a  part  of  the  Church ; 
that  the  Sunday  School  is  the  Church  engaged  in  a  certain 
necessary  line  of  her  divinely  appointed  activity ;  that  as  to 
its  essential  nature  and  function  the  origin  and  authority  'of 
the  Sunday  School  are  the  same  as  the  origin  and  authority 
of  the  Church ;  that  the  Sunday  School  is,  therefore,  as  old 
as  the  Church,  and  even  antedates  the  organization  of  the 
Church  with  her  full  equipment  of  sacramental  and  sermonic 
ordainments. 

And  so  it  must  be  a  fact,  and  as  a  matter  of  history  it  is 
a  fact,  that  the  Church  of  the  Conservative  Reformation,  when- 
ever and  wherever  she  has  been  true  to  herself,  that  is,  loyal 
to  her  own  doctrinal  principles,  and  consistent  with  these  prin- 
ciples in  her  practice,  has  emphasized  the  importance  and  neces- 
sity of  thorough  spiritural  and  doctrinal  instruction  for  all,  and 
especially  for  the  young. 

In  this  view  the  prin>ary  object  of  the  Sunday  School  is 
clear.  It  is.  first,  to  teach  those  who  have  been  baptized,  those 
who  have  been  planted  into  Christ  and  incorporated  with  the 
Church  which  is  the  Body  of  Christ,  "all  things  whatsoever 
He  has  commanded,"  and,  secondly,  as  a  missionary  instru- 
mentality, to  reach  the  unbaptized  with  the  Word,  and  bring 
them,  if  possible,  into  the  Church,  and  train  them  especially 
in  the  knowledge  which  is  eternal  life. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  205 

With  this  conception  of  the  Sunday  School  and  its  purpose 
clearly  before  us  let  us  get  back  to  the  question  that  is  our  sub- 
ject, namely.  "Are  Our  Present  A/Iethods  of  Sunday  School 
Work  Adequate?" 

That  is,  are  these  niethods  adequate  for  the  feeding  of  the 
lambs  and  the  sheep  of  the  Good  Shepherd's  fold ;  adequate  to 
their  healthful  nourishment;  adequate  to  their  growth  in 
grace  and  in  the  knowledge  of  the  truths  of  salvation ;  ade- 
quate to  their  rooting  and  grounding  in  the  "(3ne  Faith ;"  ade- 
quate to  their  spiritual  upbuilding  so  that  they  may  become 
temples  for  the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Trinity  and  living 
stones  in  the  walls  of  the  new  Jerusalem? 

And  are  these  present  methods  adequate  for  the  effectual 
reaching  of  those  who  have  not  been  sealed  in  holy  Baptism, 
those  who  are  carelessly  and  perilously  straying  in  the  wilder- 
ness ?  That  is,  adequate  to  find  such  and  effectually  lead  them, 
or  at  least  many  of  them  into  the  Good  Shepherd's  fold  of  life? 

Now  in  the  short  time  I  have  been  able  to  give  to  a  careful 
study  of  this  question  I  have  reached  the  paradoxical  conclu- 
sion that  our  present  Sunday  School  methods  are  adequate, 
and  they  are  not  adequate.  They  are  adequate  in  some  re- 
spects and  inadequate  in  others. 

They  are  adequate, in  some  places  and  cases  and  inadequate 
in  others. 

Take,  for  example,  our  Sunday  School  apparatus.  This  in- 
cludes everything  that  is  provided  for  the  purpose  of  impart- 
ing instruction. 

There  has  undoubtedly  been  great  enlargement,  develop- 
ment and  improvement  in  this  teaching  apparatus.  Compared 
with  what  we  have  now,  it  was,  even  a  generation  ago,  exceed- 
ingly meagre.  Not  in  substance,  of  course,  but  in  form.  A 
generation  ago  we  had  the  Bible,  with  very  limited  helps  in 
the  way  of  available  commentaries,  and  explanations ;  a  few 
simple  question  books,  and  the  catechism  in  some  of  our  con- 
gregations. But  now  we  have  a  really  confusing  wealth  of 
all  sorts  of  helps  for  the  study  and  understanding  of  the  Word 
of  God,  and  Christian  doctrine.  Commentaries,  dictionaries, 
classified  subjects,     illustrations,     side-lights    historical,     side- 


200  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

lights  scientific,  side-lights  archaeological,  side-lights  sociologi- 
cal, head-lights  omniological,  maps,  diagrams,  picture  schemes 
and  charts,  so  that  where  for  a  long  time  there  was  too  little 
there  now  seems  to  be  serious  danger  of  getting  too  much. 
The  pedagogical  Sunday  School  apparatus  in  the  Christian 
world  today,  would  fill  a  large  museum,  and  it  would  be  a  va- 
riegated and  wonderfully  surprising  collection. 

After  a  number  of  years  of  earnest  and  faithful  efifort  on  the 
part  of  individual  pastors  and  others  to  provide  lesson  books 
and  lesson  leaves  for  our  Sunday  Schools,  about  half  a  dozen 
years  ago  the  General  Council  took  vigorous  and  systematic 
hold  of  this  particular  work.  Fortunately  at  that  juncture  of 
the  history  of  our  Sunday  School  work  the  Lord  raised  up  for 
us  a  Moses,  who.  by  natural  endowments  and  thorough  train- 
ing was  peculiarly  qualified  to  lead  us,  it  not  out  of  a  veritable 
Egyptain  bondage  yet  certainly  out  of  a  somewhat  barren 
and  inhospitable  wilderness,  into  a  well  ordered,  beautifully 
arranged,  fruitful,  milk-and-honey-flowing  Canaan. 

We  have  not  succeeded,  as  yet,  in  getting  all  the  tribes  set- 
tled in  their  appointed  borders,  but  we  are  working  shoulder 
to  shoulder  in  that  direction,  and  there  is  ever-increasing  en- 
couragement that  this  great  objective  point  will  ultimately  be 
reached. 

As  a  result  of  this  movement  we  have  not  what  seems  to 
us  to  be  a  very  excellent  graded  system  of  text  books,  which, 
of  course,  carries  with  it  the  grading  of  our  schools,  and  the 
adoption  of  a  method  based  upon  correct  pedagogical  princi- 
ples, and  corresponding  to  the  most  approved  educational 
methods  in  use  in  secular  schools. 

Our  graded  series  of  text  books  is  not  yet  complete.  A  few 
of  the  higher  grade  books  have  not  yet  been  issued,  and  only 
a  few  of  the  others  have  appeared  in  revised  and  improved  edi- 
tions. But  when  this  series  is  completed,  which  will  be  within 
a  comparatively  short  time,  it  will  be  ample  and  more  than 
ample  for  all  the  purposes  of  proper  Sunday  School  work. 

The  principle  of  this  scheme  is  adaptation  to  the  age  and 
capacity  of  the  pupil.  Starting  with  the  simplest  elementary 
scriptural  facts,  given  in  the  form  of  stories  and  talks  and 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  207 

with  such  illustrations  as  appeal  particularly  to  childhood,  the 
course  advances  by  easy  gradations  to  the  profoundest  doc- 
trines of  our  religion.  The  aim  has  been  to  keep  as  closely  as 
possible  to  the  gradual  unfolding  of  Revelation  itself.  Every 
department  of  Biblical  knowledge  receives  due  attention,  and 
is  brought  into  its  logically  indicated  place  in  the  curriculum. 
This  gives  a  unity  to  the  system,  and  a  comprehensive,  progres- 
sive character  that  supplies  everything  that  is  needful  for  a 
very  thorough  Biblical  and  doctrinal  education. 

The  general  plan  has  been  adopted,  and  as  a  plan  we  do  not 
see  how  it  can  be  greatly  improved  upon.  It  will  require  time 
and  painstaking  labor  to  work  it  out  to  a  satisfactory  degree 
of  symmetry,  and  to  make  its  several  parts  all  that  it  is  possi- 
ble to  make  them  in  themselves.  The  ultimate  intention  is  to 
have  this  entire  course  in  convenient  and  substantially  bound 
books.  These  books  to  be  put  into  the  hands  of  teachers  and 
scholars,  to  be  kept  and  owned  by  them,  to  be  studied  at  home, 
to  be  preserved  for  reference  and  use  throughout  life. 

In  consideration  of  the  excellence  of  this-  system  of  text 
books,  and  of  the  abundant  material  which  it  renders  available 
to  every  school  that  adopts  and  uses- it,  I  am  prepared  to  say, 
that  in  this  respect  our  General  Council  Sunday  School  meth- 
ods are  adequate.  He  would  be  an  exacting  and  a  carping 
critic  who  would  presume  to  say  that  it  does  not  provide  in 
rich  abundance  "milk  for  the  babes,  and  strong  meat  for  them 
that  are  of  full  age." 

The  present  methods  of  Sunday  School  organization  among 
us  so  far  as  I  have  observed,  do  not  seem  to  be  adequate. 
Many  of  our  schools  ^re  not  under  the  immediate  supervision 
of  the  church  authorities  as  such.  They  are  carried  on  prac- 
tically as  an  entirely  separate  organization.  There  is  little  at- 
tempt at  proper  grading  and  classification.  There  is  rarely  any 
provision  for  examinations  and  systematic  promotions.  We 
are  not  in  favor  of  very  much  organization  for  the  Sunday 
School.  Almost  better  have  too  little  than  too  much.  I  am 
not,  as  yet  favorable  to  a  separate  constitution  for  the  Sunday 
School.  But  some  rules  and  regulations  ought  to  be  provided. 
These  should  be  simple  and  have  direct  reference  to  the  ad- 


208  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

ministration  of  the  school,  to  its  order  of  services,  and  to  its 
methods  of  teaching. 

I  think  such  provisions  and  principles  as  would  have  a  prop- 
er place  in  a  formal  constitution,  would  better  be  incorporated 
in  the  constitution  of  the  congregation. 

It  is  in  the  matter  of  teachers  that  I  think  the  greatest  weak- 
ness in  our  present  Sunday  School  methods  will  be  found. 
Not  that  I  have  anything  but  the  highest  admiration,  and  the 
most  sincere  praise  for  all  who  are  engaged  in  the  work  of 
teaching  in  our  Sunday  Schools. 

And  we  have  many  excellent  and  very  successful  teachers. 
But  in  the  nature  of  the  situation  as  our  schools  are  arranged, 
needing  so  large  a  number  of  teachers,  it  is  simply  impossible 
to  procure  enough  who  are  in  every  way  qualified  for  this  diffi- 
cult and  responsible  position.  I  have  had  experience  with  many 
teachers,  and  with  many  types  of  teachers,  and  I  have  found 
a  few  in  every  school  I  have  been  connected  with  whom  I 
would  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  were  fully  adequate  to  the 
work  required  of  them.  But  some  of  the  best  people  I  have 
known,  so  far  as  spirituality  and  earnest  piety  were  concerned, 
have  been  failures  or  nearly  failures  as  teaclers. 

There  are  comparatively  few  persons,  even  among  those  who 
have  ample  endowments  of  education  and  natural  ability,  who 
are  "apt  to  teach." 

It  requires  peculiar  personal  qualities  and  abilities  to  be  a 
real  efficient  teacher.  Even  our  pastors  are  not  all  of  them  by 
any  means  thoroughly  adequate  catechists.  And  we  are  not 
all  equally  successful  in  gathering  and  holding  Bible  classes. 

I  am  not  prepared  to  say  how  this  deficiency  is  to  be  rem- 
edied. But  we  ought  to  look  seriously  to  this  point.  A  par- 
tial solution  of  the  problem  may  be  found  in  schools  for  teach- 
ers, and  in  arranging  our  schools  so  that  there  will  be  fewer 
classes. 

The  number  and  the  length  of  our  Sunday  School  sessions 
are.  as  I  look  at  the  matter,  obviously  and  decidedly  inadequate. 

I  regard  it  as  simply  impossible  to  do  thoroughly  efifective 
teaching  in,  say  a  maximum  of  one  hour  a  week.     In  many  of 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  209 

our  schools  there  is  only  a  half  or  three  quarters  of  an  hour  de- 
voted to  actual  teaching.  And  I  have  been  in  schools  where 
they  gave  half  an  hour  to  the  teaching  of  the  lesson  and  some 
of  the  teachers  would  be  through  in  half  that  time,  and  have 
fifteen  good  minutes  left  for  the  interchange  of  pleasantries 
and  conversation  on  current  events. 

Our  present  methods  for  the  careful  study  of  the  lesson  may 
not  be  inadequate  in  themselves,  but  they  fail  to  connect  with 
the  scholar  to  any  great  extent.  I  charge  this  partly  to  the  long 
tolerance  of  the  miserable  makeshift  of  weekly  and  monthly 
lesson  leaves.  The  original  lesson  leaf,  it  was  supposed  by 
some,  would  remedy  this  very  evil  or  mitigate  it,  but  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact  it  aggravated  it.  I  know  of  nothing  that  will  help 
to  remove  this  deplorable  inadequacy  so  long  as  parents  do  not 
see  to  it  that  their  children  study  their  Sunday  School  lessons 
as  carefully  and  faithfully  as  they  study  the  day  school  work. 

Our  methods  of  discipline  in  the  Sunday  School  are  inade- 
quate. Not  that  it  is  expected  or  that  it  would  be  desirable 
to  have  anything  like  the  enforced  and  often  rigid  discipline 
of  the  public  schools. 

But  there  certainly  should  be  a  discipline  of  love,  of  tact,  of 
tenderness  that  would  constrain  reverence,  good  order  and 
respectful  attention.  I  would  recommend  the  stopping  of  all 
other  work  and  drilling  on  this  line  for  half  the  time  of  the 
school,  if  necessary.  Disorder,  irreverence,  inattention  are 
exceedingly  demoralizing.  I  cannot  see  how  good  seed  can 
be  properly  planted  under  such  conditions. 

So  while  we  have  the  subjects  and  the  teaching  material  in 
adequate  abundance,  yet  I  think  we  must  all  acknowledge  that 
"Our  Present  Methods"  or  the  personalities  that  have  the 
handling  of  them  are  often  very  inadequate. 

But  notwithstanding  all  the  inadequateness  and  discouraging 
features  of  our  Sunday  School  work,  it  is  a  fact  that  this  work 
is  in  many  cases  encouragingly  adequate.  We  simply  cannot 
begin  to  estimate  the  mighty  and  extensive  power  for  good 
which  the  Sunday  Schools  of  our  country  are  exercising  at 
this  miom.ent.     In  millions  of  young  hearts  and  lives  they  are 


210  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GF.NEKAL    CONFERENCE. 

planting  the  seed  of  eternal  life.  The  husbandry  may  often 
be  rude  and  unskilful  and  unsatisfactory,  but  the  divine  char- 
acter of  the  seed  it  sows  makes  it  adequate  to  the  salvation  of 
those  who  receive  it  and  keep  it. 

No  matter  how  the  Word  of  God  goes  out.  how  bunglingly 
it  is  deposited,  it  does  not  return  void  when  there  is  an  honest 
heart  to  apprehend  it.  And  on  the  other  hand,  if  there  be  not 
an  honest  heart  for  its  appropriation,  the  methods  of  angels 
and  the  matchless  skill  of  the  Master  Himself  would  be  in- 
adequate. Spiritual  edification  is  not  a  matter  of  mere  tuition, 
though  its  forms  and  its  material  should  be  absolutely  perfect. 
If  it  were,  God  could  and  doubtless  would  provide  a  faculty 
of  arch-angels  for  the  salutary  education  of  ever}'  soul  on  earth. 
There  is  something  more,  something  deeper  than  mere  tuition, 
something  that  points  to  the  profound  fact  that  the  getting  of 
the  knowledge  of  spiritual  truths  and  realities  is  by  a  process  of 
life  rather  than  by  a  process  of  the  intellect.  "With  the  heart 
man  believeth  unto  righteousness !"  "Flesh  and  blood  hath  not 
revealed  it  unto  thee,  but  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven,'"  said 
the  Master  to  Peter,  when  Peter's  soul  had  grasped  the  great- 
est fundamental  truth  of  our  holy  religion. 

And  yet  men  cannot  believe  in  the  full  sense  of  the  word 
without  knowing,  and  they  cannot  know  without  a  preacher 
or  a  teacher.  Therefore  it  will  always  be  incumbent  upon  us 
to  furnish  the  best  tuition,  best  in  substance  and  form,  that 
we  can  possibly  devise. 

There  is  plenty  of  room  for  improvement.  It  seems  to  me 
that  we  must  look  toward  and  work  for  a  change  of  our  pres- 
ent methods  that  will  afiford  more  time  for  teaching,  more  time 
for  contact  and  intercourse  between  instructor  and  pupil.  This 
I  think  will  have  to  be  done,  even  if  v/e  have  to  give  up  some 
of  the  time  that  is  now  set  apart  for  preaching  I  am  mclmed 
to  believe  that  we  are  now  in  or  we  p.^e  rapidi  •  coming  into 
an  age  and  a  condition  wiien  we  shall  need  more  teaching  than 
preaching,  and  when  more  of  o;:r  preachuig  sb.ould  virtually 
take  the  form  of  teaching. 

Not  in  every  place  as  yet,  perhaps,  but  in  many  places  I  am 
persuaded  that  it  would  he  n  gain  to  give  Sunday  morning  to 


PROCEEDINGS    QF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  211 

a  full  service  of  worship  and  preaching,  and  Sunday  afternoon 
and  evening  to  the  Sunday  School  w^ork.  Wednesday  could  be 
profitably  used  in  the  same  way,  and  wherever  possible  Saturday 
afternoon  classes  should  be  arranged.  If  the  State  could  be 
prevailed  upon  to  give  the  children  to  the  respective  churches 
to  which  they  belong  one  half  a  day  in  each  week  I  believe 
it  would  result  in  immense  benefit  to  the  churches,  and  it  would 
help  mightily  and  increasingly  in  saving  the  nation  from  the 
demoralizing  and  destructive  influences  of  the  subtle  rational- 
ism and  infidelity  which  more  than  anything  else  menace  the 
stability  and  the  glorv  of  our  civil  institutions. 


ARE     OLTl     PRESENT     METHODS     OF     SUNDAY 
SCHOOL  WORK  ADEQUATE? 

By  the  Rev.  Prof.  J.  A.  Singmaster,  D.  D. 

Our  topic,  if  we  have  interpreted  it  rightly,  includes  the 
whole  problem  of  the  Sunday  School.  An  institution  of  such 
vast  importance  will  ever  awaken  interest  and  discussion. 
Nevertheless,  we  may  assume  that,  after  an  existence  of  over 
a  century  in  its  modern  form,  a  good  many  things  concerning 
the  Sunday  School  are  fairly  well  settled. 

I.    PRELIMINARY    OBSERVATIONS. 

Before  considering  what  we  regard  the  fundamental  needs 
of  the  Sunday  School,  we  shall  make  several  preliminary  ob- 
servations concerning  matters  upon  which  there  is  or  ought 
to  be  agreement  among  thoughtful  Sutiday  School  workers. 

1.  We  may  take  it  for  granted  that  the  right  of  the  Sunday 
School  to  exist  can  no  longer  be  challenged.  It  has  come  to 
stay.  No  church  can  live  and  grow  without  it.  Nor  would  we 
change  the  name  Sunday  School  to  Bible  School  or  Lord's  Day 
School.  The  name  is  simple  and  easily  understood.  "The  only 
good  reason  for  a  change  may  come  when  its  sessions  are  no 
long  exclusively  held  on  Sundays. 

2.  The  relation  of  the  Sunday  school  to  the  Church  has 
become  clearly  understood.  It  is  not  the  children's  Church, 
nor  the  private  property  of  the  superintendent,  nor  a  substitute 

for  the  Church,  nor  co-ordinate  with  the  Church.     The  Sun- 


212  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

day  School  is  simply  a  department  of  the  Church  through 
which  it  performs  its  function  as  a  teacher  especially  of  chil- 
dren. The  object  of  the  Sunday  School  is  primarily  religious 
instruction,  imparted  with  a  view  to  building  up  a  noble  char- 
acter. 

3.  We  may  further  assume  that  right  ideas  prevail  or  at  least 
are  gaining  ground  in  regard  to  singing  in  the  Sunday  School 
as  a  part  of  divine  worship.  The  demand  is  growing  for 
hymns  of  a  truly  poetical  character,  throbbing  with  exalted 
sentiment,  grace,  and  life,  adapted  to  the  years  of  the  sing- 
ers.    Music  is  desired  that  is  melodious,  tender,  and  joyful. 

4.  It  is  also  being  recognized  that  the  Library  ought  by  no 
means  to  be  limited  to  so-called  religious  books,  many  of  which 
are  veritable  trash,  but  that  it  may  profitably  include  any  good 
standard  works,  which,  for  instance,  a  minister  would  permit 
his  children  to  read. 

5.  Concerning  certain  adjuncts  of  the  Sunday  School  per- 
taining to  its  comfort  there  is  abundant  evidence  that  there  is 
a  just  demand  for  better  accommodations.  The  cellar  and  the 
garret  no  longer  satisfy  the  awakened  sense  of  need.  We  fear 
however  that  some  modern  Sunday  School  architecture  has 
failed  to  secure  the  primary  requisites  of  air,  light,  seeing  and 
hearing. 

In  all  these  points  there  is  no  doubt  abundant  room  for  de- 
velopment, but  we  are  persuaded  that,  in  general,  right  prin- 
ciples prevail,  and  that  these  will  in  due  time  produce  their 
legitimate  fruit. 

6.  In  regard  to  the  subject-matter  of  teaching  there  is 
now  about  universal  agreement  that  it  must  be  biblical,  includ- 
ing the  Bible  itself,  and  such  expositions  as  are  ofifered  through 
question  books,  the  catechism",  biblical  histories,  and  the  like. 
The  spelling-book  is  no  longer  in  favor.  The  prevalent  usage 
in  all  Sunday  Schools  gives  a  large  place  to  selected  lessons 
from  the  Bible.  Whether  these  selections  are  to  be  along 
the  line  of  the  pericopes  of  the  church  year,  or  in  accordance 
with  the  so-called  International  Lessons  is  a  question  under 
debate.  After  an  experience  of  a  good  many  years,  our  pre- 
ference is  still  for  the  latter  when  modified  so  as  to  recognize 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  213 

the  principal  church  festivals.  Much  may  be  said  on  either 
side,  and  this  may  be  said  of  both,  that  a  faithful  use  of  them 
will  bring  fine  results. 

7.  It  is  conceded  pretty  generally  also  that  the  lessons  ought 
to  be  graded  according  to  the  capacity  of  the  scholars.  There 
is  danger,  however,  of  carrying  the  matter  of  grading  too  far 
in  the  present  day  Sunday  School,  with  its  comparatively  in- 
efficient teaching  force.  The  too  great  multiplication  of  book- 
lets and  pamphlets  in  the  attempt  to  provide  graded  lessons 
involves  both  expense  and  confusion.  We  believe,  however, 
that  there  should  be  permanent  text-books,  particularly  for 
the  lower  grades.  There  should  be  a  simple  question-book, 
covering  the  main  facts  of  the  Bible,  more  especially  its  history 
and  biography.  There  must  be  also  a  Bible  History  setting 
forth  in  easy  language  the  characters,  institutions  and  events 
of  both  Testaments.  As  I  endeavor  to  recall  the  helps  in  my 
own  religious  education  it  seems  to  me  that  the  -old  "Question 
Book,"  and  "Percept  upon  Percept"  (a  Bible  history)  did 
more  for  me  than  all  the  oral  instruction  of  my  childhood.  The 
permanent  text  book  idea  is  founded  upon  the  nature  of  the 
child  mind.  The  truth  taught  receives  the  form  of  association 
with  the  book  and  its  pictures,  while  its  substance  appeals  to 
the  imagination  and  impresses  itself  upon  the  memory.  Noth- 
ing can  be  more  important  than  to  lodge  the  facts  of  the  Bible 
in  the  mind  of  the  child. 

II.  FUNDAMENTAL  NEEDS. 

The  foregoing  remarks  may  be  considered  as  preparatory 
to  a  statement  of  the  most  fundamental  and  crying  needs  of 
the  Sunday  School.  The  first  need  is  a  fuller  understanding 
of  the  mission  of  the  Sunday  School,  and  the  second  is  that 
of  better  teachers. 

I.  The  Mission  of  the  Sunday  School.  The  deeper  meaning 
of  the  Sunday  School  and  its  management  have  received  rather 
superficial  attention  from  the  students  of  church  problems. 
The  literature  on  the  subject  is  scant.  Public  and  private 
libraries  ar^  almost  barren  of  it.  Ecclesiastical  assemblies, 
such  as  Synods,  Ecumenical  Conferences  and  Alliances  rarely 
hear  addresses  on  the  fundamental  ideas  of  the  Sundav  School. 


214  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

Even  the  theological  seminaries  do  not  give  the  matter  much 
atteneion.  The  Sunday  School  receives  its  dignity  and  im- 
portance from  the  fact  that  it  is  a  link  in  the  training  of  the 
child,  that  it  furnishes  a  part  of  its  education.  Public  educa- 
tion has  become  secularized.  It  does  only  a  part  of  the  work. 
Religious  training  is  excluded.  Protestantism  and  Democracy 
have  made  its  continuance  impossible  in  view  of  the  freedom 
of  worship,  and  the  separation  of  Church  and  State. 

The  parochial  or  Church  school  has  become  practically  an  im- 
possibility among  us.  The  hope  of  its  restoration,  among 
Protestants  at  least,  is  vain.  We  must  therefore,  make  the 
most  of  our  opportunities  for  imparting  religious  instruction 
in  the  home,  the  Sunday  School  the  catechetical  class,  and  the 
regular  services  of  the  Church. 

The  Sunday  School,  therefore,  must  supplement  the  day- 
school  in  endeavoring  to  impart  that  which  the  State  fails  to 
give.  Where  the  child  has  the  advantage  of  truly  Christian 
home-life  the  Sunday  School  measurably  atones  for  the  want 
of  religious  training  in  the  day-school.  But  when  the  child 
comes  from  a  home  destitute  of  intelligence  and  piety,  the  re- 
sponsibility of  the  Sunday  School  is  proportionately  in- 
creased, and  its  inadequacy  often  revealed.  The  fate  of  the 
latter  child  is  largely  influenced  by  the  character  of  the  Sun- 
day School.  As  to  the  children  whose  parents  do  not  send 
them  to  Sunday  School  at  all,  we  can  only  say  here  that  that  is 
a  missionary  problem. 

The  Sunday  School  then  assumes  the  position  of  a  teacher 
of  religious  truth.  In  order  to  fulfill  this  holy  office  "it  must 
be  made  fully  conscious  of  the  principles  on  which  its  work 
rests  and  of  the  methods  best  suited  to  the  attainment  of  its 
ends."  It  is  a  school,  and  as  such  must  recognize  and  apply 
the  priciples  of  teaching  just  as  the  successful  day-school  does. 
The  truths  of  the  Bible  must  be  apprehended  by  the  same  facul- 
ties which  grasp  the  truths  of  physical  science. 

2.  The  Sunday  School  Teacher.  It  is  impossible  to  con- 
duct a  school  without  teachers  and  equally  so  to  have  a  good 
school  without  good  teachers.  Competent  teachers,  who  give 
their  best  thought  to  the  Sunday     School    will    solve     every 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  215 

vexed  question  in  child  training  in  the  school.  They  alone 
will  agitate  the  just  demands  of  the  school  and  finally  secure 
them. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  much  teaching  in  the  Sunday  School  is 
no  teaching  at  all,  judged  by  results.  Keep  your  ears  open  as 
you  slowly  walk  through  the  aisles  of  a  Sunday  School  room, 
or  ask  your  children  about  the  lesson  after  school,  and  you  will 
discover  that  the  score  of  yesterday's  game,  the  latest  fashion, 
or  perchance  some  scandal  has  been  more  discussed  than  the 
lesson.  Or,  you  may  learn  that  the  teacher  is  far  behind  his 
scholars  in  knowledge,  and  that  his  teaching  consists  of  weary 
platitudes,  story  telling,  or  preaching. 

On  the  other  hand  justice  demands  the  acknowledgment 
that  there  are  many  noble  and  faithful  teachers,  who  have  to 
some  extent  acquired  the  art  of  teaching  while  practicing  it, 
who  have  natural  fitness  for  the  work,  who  love  Christ  and  his 
little  ones  and  who  do  the  best  they  can,  and  thus  merit  our 
gratitude  and  win  the  Master's  approbation. 

But  is  it  easy  to  teach?  Is  it  just  to  expect  that  anyone  who 
has  the  right  spirit  can  teach?  Is  it  any  more  reasonable  to 
hope  that  a  man  can  teach  without  special  endowment  and 
training  than  that  he  can  preach  without  them?  We  are 
brought  to  the  conclusion,  therefore,  that  the  Sunday  School 
will  fail  of  its  mission  without  adequately  trained  teachers.  To 
secure  these  ought  to  be  the  first  concern. 

In  order  to  secure  efficient  teachers  it  must  be  seen  to  that 
the  pastor  be  a  Sunday  School  man.  He  should  consider  the 
Sunday  School  a  part  of  his  field.  He  ought  to  be  profoundly 
interested  in  it.  He  ought  to  know  all  about  it.  He  is  the 
pastor  of  the  Sunday  School.  There  he  comes  into  touch  with 
the  best  part  of  his  congregation.  He  neglects  it  at  his  peril. 
He  cultivates  it  to  his  profit.  Did  those  pastors,  who  are  not 
gifted  in  the  work  of  the  pulpit,  and  who  hold  their  places  by 
a  slender  tenure  but  realize  that  through  the  Sunday  School 
they  can  make  themselves  loved  and  useful,  yea,  indispensable 
to  a  congregation,  they  would  cultivate  this  field  more  than 
they  are  doing.  Though  I  gave  much  attention  to  the  Sunday 
School  during  the  twenty-five  years  of  my  pastoral  life,  were 
I  to  return  to  it  I  would  spend  my  very  best  eflforts  upon  it. 


216  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

It  is  a  confession  of  great  weakness,  if  not  of  failure,  for  a 
minister  to  say  that  he  is  not  at  home  in  the  Sunday  School. 
It  is  even  worse  when  the  teachers  feel  that  his  presence  is 
a  damper,  and  that  his  suggestions  are  impracticable.  It  is 
scarcely  a  question  whether  such  a  man,  in  spite  of  some  pulpit 
ability,  is  fit  to  be  a  pastor  at  all.  How  can  the  flock  thrive 
under  a  shpeherd  who  does  not  know  how  to  take  care  of 
lambs?  He  may  seem  to  get  along  in  a  well  established  con- 
gregation, but  will  inevitably  fail  in  a  weak  or  a  new  enter- 
prise. 

The  pastor  must  be  a  teacher.  I  do  not  say  that  he  must 
have  a  class  in  the  Sunday  School.  He  need  not  necessarily 
be  superintendent.  But  he  must  know  how  to  teach,  and  how 
to  superintend.  He  must  be  an  expert,  and  overseer.  He  must 
be  to  the  Sunday  School  what  the  general  manager  is  to  a 
great  industrial  establishment,  a  man  who  looks  on,  who  sees 
and  hears  in  a  moment  when  anything  goes  wrong,  and  knows 
the  remedy,  and  how  to  apply  it.  The  pastor  must  have  a 
high  ideal  of  a  school,  and  a  practical  turn  so  as  to  realize  it 
as  far  as  possible  out  of  the  material  at  hand 

We  will  never  solve  the  Sunday  School  problem  until  we 
have  the  kind  of  a  pastor  described.  But  you  say,  he  does  not 
exist.  Then  I  answer,  we  must  make  him.  To  begin,  he  will 
have  to  start  in  the  primary  department  of  the  Sunday  School 
as  a  child,  and  come  up  through  all  the  grades  and  most  of 
the  ofifices,  teaching  and  administrative.  All  this  is  possible 
with  the  average  candidate  for  the  ministry  during  the  20  or 
25  years  of  his  life  before  he  becomes  a  pastor. 

During  the  years  of  his  preparation,  in  the  academy,  college 
and  seminary,  he  should  keep  in  intimate  touch  with  the 
School,  as  scholar,  teacher,  or  officer.  If  he  neglect  this,  he 
will  discover  to  his  sorrow  that  he  has  lost  the  habit  of  at- 
tendance, and  the  liking,  as  well  as  the  skill  for  that  kind  of 
service. 

Beyond  this,  there  ought  to  be  a  place  in  the  seminary  curri- 
culum for  the  fuller  study  of  the  great  questions  involved  in 
the  Sunday  School.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  fear,  that  these  re- 
ceive but  scant  attention  either  from  a  low  conception  of  their 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  217 

merit  in  themselves,  or  in  comparison  with  other  branches. 
But  what  subject  in  the  department  of  practical  theology  can 
be  of  greater  moment  than  that  which  has  to  do  with  the  chil- 
dren of  the  Church?  It  seems  to  us,  that  we  have  not  thor- 
oughly adjusted  ourselves  to  the  conditions  prevailing  in  our 
country,  and  that  we  are  still  too  much  bound  by  the  traditions 
of  old  times  and  old  countries. 

But  I  would  go  back  a  little  further  and  deeper  than  the 
study  of  the  Sunday  School  as  an  institution  in  my  search  for 
a  full  solution  of  the  Sunday  School  problem.  I  believe  that 
it  will  be  found  in  pedagogy,  the  science  that  treats  of  the  prin- 
ciples and  the  art  of  teaching.  The  pastor  is  preeminently  a 
teacher,  and  a  teacher  of  teachers,  a  molder  of  public  senti- 
ment, a  trainer  of  children.  Anomalous  as  it  may  seem,  the  ma- 
jority of  men  now  in  the  ministry  have  never  made  a  serious 
study  of  pedagogics,  I  will  venture  the  statement  that  in  few 
of  their  libraries  will  you  find  a  single  volume  on  child-train- 
ing. It  is  true  that  there  is  some  preparation  for  teaching  in 
the  study  of  mental  philosophy,  in  the  observation  of  the  meth- 
ods of  other  teachers  and  in  their  personal  experience.  But 
these  do  not  make  up  for  the  loss  of  direct,  positive  study  of 
the  subject. 

The  intrinsic  importance  of  pedagogics  is  recognized  in 
all  our  State  Normal  Schools  which  make  the  study  obligatory 
upon  all  candidates  for  graduation,  and  give  them  the  oppor- 
tunity of  practice  in  their  model  schools.  No  doubt  many  of 
these  students  fail  to  get  the  best  out  of  this  study  on  account 
of  their  immature  years,  lack  of  culture  and  superficial  work, 
but  they  are  better  qualified  for  their  profession  by  even  this 
imperfect  study  than  they  otherwise  could  be. 

"The  Sunday  School,"  says  Dr.  Butler,  of  Columbia  Uni- 
versity, "must,  first  of  all  understand  fully  the  organization, 
aims,  and  methods  of  the  public  schools;  for  it  is  their  ally. 
*  *  *  It  must  study  the  facts  of  child-life  and  development, 
and  it  must  base  its  methods  upon  the  actual  needs  and  capaci- 
ties of  childhood.  It  must  organize  its  work  economically  and 
scientifically  and  it  must  demand  of  its  teachers  special  and 
continous  preparation  for  their  work." 


218  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

Our  many-sided  Luther  has  this  to  say  in  his  Table  Talk 
on  the  importance  to  the  clergy  of  a  knowledge  of  teaching: 
"I  would  have  no  one  chosen  for  a  preacher  who  has  not  pre- 
viously been  a  school  teacher.  But  at  the  present  time  our 
young  men  want  to  become  preachers  at  once,  and  to  avoid  the 
labor  of  school-keeping.  When  one  has  taught  about  ten 
years,  then  he  can  give  it  up  with  a  good  conscience." 

It  is  surely  a  great  undertaking  for  a  young  man  to  assume 
the  management  of  a  congregation  with  its  Sunday  School 
without  any  theoretical  or  practical  knowledge  of  teaching. 
We  believe  that  the  seminary  ought  to  fit  him  for  this  v/ork 
as  far  as  it  can  by  a  more  thorough  training  in  the  principles 
of  teaching.  This  it  seems  to  us  might  properly  come  under 
the  department  of  catechetics.  If  it  be  said  in  reply  that 
Dedagogy  does  not  properly  belong  to  the  seminary  course  I 
would  answer  that 'it  is  just  as  germane  to  it  as  homiletics, 
which  treats  particularly  of  preaching. 

The  pastor  being  a  thorough  Sunday  School  man,  one  great 
step  is  taken  toward  good  teaching.  Does  he  find  that  there 
are  already  a  number  of  competent  teachers  connected  with 
the  school,  his  task  of  forming  an  excellent  corps  will  be  easier. 
But  he  will  have  to  set  in  motion  certain  processes  which  will 
continue  to  produce  good  teachers. 

Starting  with  the  teachers  at  work  in  the  school,  everything 
possible  should  be  done  to  improve  them.  Those  who  are 
really  capable  will  be  glad  for  opportunities  for  acquiring  new 
ideas,  while  many  of  the  incapable  ones  will  drop  out  of  the 
ranks  together  with  the  positively  indifi:"erent.  At  all  events 
new  teachers  are  in  constant  demand.  The  ultimate  success 
of  the  Sunday  School  depends  largely  upon  their  selection  and 
training. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  call  for  volunteers  from  the  pulpit.  It  gen- 
erally ends  in  chagrin,  either  because  the  call  is  unheeded  or 
heeded  by  unsuitable  persons.  A  good  Sunday  School  teacher 
must  be  hand-picked  like  apples  that  are  to  keep.  There  may 
be  some  adults  at  hand  who  will  make  tolerable  teachers,  who 
perhaps  in  other  places  or  other  years  were  trained  for  the 
work.     But  the  chief  reliance  must  be  the  young  people  of  the 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  219 

congregation.     They  will  most  naturally  come  from  the  Bible 
and  Catechism  classes. 

Having  secured  by  personal  solicitation  a  number  of  per- 
sons of-  intelligence  and  of  the  proper  spirit  a  Normal  Class 
should  be  formed  to  which  all  the  teachers  should  be  invited. 
This  class  should  meet  at  any  convenient  time,  preferably  dur- 
ing the  week,  for  the  study  of  the  methods  of  teaching,  and  for 
the  systematic  study  of  the  Bible.  The  pastor  himself  or  the 
best  teacher  obtainable  should  have  charge  of  this  class.  It 
need  not  be  confined  to  the  members  of  one  congregation. 
Several  churches  could  unite  with  profit,  especially  where 
churches  of  the  same  denomination  are  contiguous. 

The  candidates  for  teaching  who  are  members  of  the  Nor- 
mal Class  should  be  formed  into  a  regular  Bible  class  in  the 
Sunday  School,  and  taught  by  the  best  of  teachers  in  order 
that  the  prospective  teachers  may  have  not  only  the  best  pos- 
sible instruction  in  the  matter  but  also  in  the  manner  of  teach- 
ing. This  class  will  ordinarily  study  the  lesson  one  Sunday  in 
advance  of  the  regular  course  in  order  that  when  any  of  its 
members  are  needed  as  substitute  teachers  they  will  have  stud- 
ied the  lesson. 

The  regular  staff  of  teachers  will  need  a  weekly  teacher's 
meeting  for  the  study  of  the  lesson  and  for  consultation.  It 
is  doubtful  whether  any  school  can  attain  any  high  degree  of 
efficiency  without  a  weekly  teacher's  meeting. 

This  plan  of  preparing  teachers  is  not  new,  but  it  is  not  gen- 
erally followed,  however  simple.  It  starts  with  a  pastor  who 
is  a  thorough  Sunday  School  man.  It  contemplates  the  care- 
ful selection  of  candidates.  It  demands  a  Normal  Class,  a  Bible 
class  and  a  teachers'  meeting.  This  entirely  practicable  plan 
may  involve  labor  and  self-denial,  and  does  not  commend  itself 
to  those  who  play  at  keeping  Sunday  School,  but  under  the 
blessing  of  God  it  will  equip  the  school  with  excellent  teachers. 

But  even  more  than  this  should  be  aimed  at.  It  is  the  solemn 
duty  of  the  Church  to  supply  its  schools  with  the  best  teachers 
whom  love  and  money  can  secure.  It  ought  not  to  be  satisfied 
wath  home-made  teachers.  It  ought  to  demand  of  its  man}' 
academies,  girls'  schools,  colleges  and  theological  seminaries 
courses  of  study  that  will  fit  the  laity  for  church  work,  especial- 


220  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

ly  as  teachers  in  the  Sunday  School.  Perhaps  we  would  be 
justified  in  setting  up  one  more  school  and  call  it  a  Teachers' 
Seminary.  Competent  teachers  ought  to  be  paid.  The  teachers 
of  the  Infant  Department  and  of  the  main  Bible  Classes  ought 
to  be  persons  of  such  ability  and  training  as  to  command  a 
salary  in  every  well-to-do  congregation.  Surely  they  deserve 
it  as  much  as  the  sexton,  the  organist,  the  soloist  or  the  pastor. 
Would  it  not  be  a  good  thing,  if  we  can  not  have  the  parochial 
school,  to  have  at  least  the  teacher  to  help  the  pastor  in  this 
momentous  matter  of  teaching  the  children  ?  If  he  could  com- 
bine teacher  and  musician  it  would  be  all  the  better  and  his 
maintenance  would  be  easier.  With  such  a  helper,  the  pastor 
could  make  Sunday  School  teachers  that  would  be  a  credit  to 
the  church. 

I  might  add  also  that  to  accomplish  its  mission  the  Sunday 
School  must  give  more  time  to  its  work.  It  must  adjust  its 
meeting  place  with  a  view  to  keeping  the  children  more  than 
an  hour  on  a  Sunday.  Perhaps  a  Saturday  session  ought  to 
be  arranged  in  which  teaching  rather  than  devotional  exercises 
shall  take  up  about  all  the  time. 

With  a  larger  conception  of  the  nature  of  the  Sunday  School 
and  a  fuller  realization  of  the  vast  responsibility  involved  in 
the  training  of  the  young  will  come  better  teachers,  better 
teaching,  better  rooms  and  better  results. 


REMARKS. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  S.  Albert  said  :— 

There  are  two  theories  of  Sunday  School  work:  one  lays 
stress  on  information  rather  than  on  inspiration ;  the  other  lays 
stress  on  inspiration  rather  than  on  information.  By  inspira- 
tion, we  mean  that  presentation  of  the  scripture  which  will 
impress  the  mind  and  heart  of  the  scholar  with  divine  truth, 
whereby  they  shall  be  brought  to  the  saving  knowledge  of  Christ 
Jesus,  and  be  built  up  in  faith.  It  does  not  mean  that  inspira- 
tion must  dispense  with  information,  for  the  Bible  is  the  source 
of  inspiring  truth  and  its  contents  must  be  known  in  order  to 
bring  this  truth  to  heart.     But  it  does  mean  that  the  Bible  is 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  221 

not  to  become  a  text  book  (like  the  text  books  of  the  secular 
schools)  where  information  concerning  Bible  facts,  history 
and  geography  and  personages  is  made  the  most  important 
result,  and  the  Bible  is  treated  as  literature  rather  than  in  its 
peculiar  and  unique  feature  as  a  means  of  grace.  In  all  our 
plans,  therefore,  for  a  graded  system,  we  hold  tliat  emphasis 
must  be  laid  on  inspiration  rather  than  on  information. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  International  System  has  been  an 
outgrowth.  It  has  not  been  a  theory  which  first  has  to  be  stud- 
ied to  be  put  into  practice  but  something  which  has  grown  up 
and  gained  strength,  w^hich  is,  because  it  has  been  found  to  an- 
sw^er  the  wants  of  the  people  and  of  the  Sunday  Schools.  It 
has  been  evolved,  and.  therefore,  with  all  its  weaknesses  has 
elements  of  strength  which  cannot  be  overlooked.  It  is  a  re- 
sponse to  what  Bible  students,  up  to  this  time,  have  found  to 
be  the  best  in  this  stage  of  Bible  study.  Whatever  changes 
may  be  made  in  the  future  must  be  made  from  what  has  been 
already  gained,  and  slowly,  if  the  best  results  are  to  be  ob- 
tained. 

Two  other  .features  are  too  often  neglected  in  considering 
schemes  of  Sunday  School  study.  The  lack  of  suitable  teach- 
ers, the  other  the  lack  of  time  to  be  devoted  to  such  study.  The 
time  given,  the  whole  year,  to  Bible  study  in  the  Sunday 
Schools,  if  every  Sunday  is  utilized,  is  but  26  hours,  or  but 
little  over  a  day.  Join  this  to  the  fact  that  many  teachers  are 
slenderly  equipped  for  their  office,  it  will  be  seen  that  'is  be- 
comes necessary,  in  presenting  schemes  of  study,  to  take  these 
two  factors  into  account,  and  adopt  such  a  plan  as  shall  ob- 
tain the  best  results  with  these  conditions.  Our  plans,  there- 
fore, dare  not  be,  under  present  circumstances,  too  elaborate. 
They  must  be  simple  and  easy  to  handle.  With  it  all,  it  m.ust 
not  be  forgotten  that  the  voluntary  system  of  teaching  has 
been  productive  of  immense  good  even  if  there  has  been  a 
weakness  in  imperfect  Bible  knowledge.  The  Christian  work- 
ers have  been  developed  in  our  Sunday  Schools  to  the  up- 
building of  their  own  character.  There  has  been  the  personal 
contact  between  soul  and  soul  which,  in  many  cases,  is  far  more 
efficient  to  start  a  young  child  in  the  way  of  truth  than  cold 


222  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

information  from  the  teacher's  Hps,  whose  heart  is  not  inter- 
ested in  the  child. 

Any  one  of  the  pastors  here,  that  would  give  testimony  as 
to  the  work  of  the  Sunday  School  in  preparing  the  scholars 
for  the  church,  could  tell  of  the  mighty  influence  exerted  upon 
them,  an  influence  which  perpetuates  itself  in  after  years  ;  could 
bring  example  after  example  of  the  lasting  work  upon  the  soul 
and  character  done  by  very  ordinary  teachers  who  were  filled 
with  the  love  of  Christ  and  sought  to  bring  others  to  that  which 
they  themselves  had  obtained. 


THE  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  LUTHERAN  CHURCH  TO 

CURRENT  DISCUSSIONS  CONCERNING 

THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURE. 

By  the  Rev.  F.  H.  Knuhel. 

It  is  somewhat  diflicult  to  determine  just  what  the  current 
discussions  concerning  the  Holy  Scripture  are.  They  resem- 
ble the  warfare  in  a  Philippine  or  South  African  insurrection ; 
one  never  knows  at  what  old  point  they  will  break  out  afresh 
nor  with  what  strength.  The  enemy  appears  to  be  routed  or 
reconciled,  but  suddenly  reappears,  under  a  new  leader  per- 
haps and  sometimes  wearing  the  Khaki  uniform  of  a  friend. 
However,  though  it  is  difficult  to  determine  them  and  though 
our  thoughts  shall  finally  lead  us  to  see  the  constant  attitude 
of  the  Lutheran  Church  to  Scriptural  discussions,  independent 
of  their  current  form,  it  is  well  that  we  in  the  first  place  men- 
tion in  a  summary  and  general  way  what  the  present  discus- 
sions are. 

Chief  among  them  is  doubtless  the  large  and  involved  ques- 
tion concerning  the  entire  Old  Testament  history  and  religion, 
which,  while  its  extreme  negative  positions  have  been  abandon- 
ed has  won  to  a  greater  or  less  adherence  at  least  the  entire 
European  scholarship.  As  is  well  known,  it  proceeds  upon  the 
basis  of  a  searching  literary  and  historical  investigation ;  it 
calls  in  question  many  supposedly  orthodox  claims  as  to  au- 
thorship ;  it  asserts  itself  as  having  undeniably  established  cer- 
tain documents  or  classes  of  documents,  which  lie  behind  many 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  223 

of  tjie  Old  Testament  books  and  which  as  the  sources  of  those 
books  were  anialgamated  or  chemically  combined  by  earnest 
editors  or  redactors  of  later  days  until  the  present  form  was 
reached ;  it  thus  discovers  certain  historical  and  religious  par- 
ties contending  throughout  the  history  of  Israel ;  it  redates 
the  entire  literature ;  finally  it  presents  a  picture  of  Old  Testa- 
ment religious  history  (varying  with  dififerent  critics  as  to 
details,  but  in  main  outline  holding  much  agreement),  which 
it  claims  to  be  true  to  fact,  inasmuch  as  it  accords  with  the  idea 
of  development  inherent  both  in  human  aflfairs  and  also  in 
Divine  creation  and  revelation.  It  need  not  be  mentioned  per- 
haps that  many  of  the  less  radical  scholars  partaking  of  these 
views  sincerely  claim  and  defend  for  themselves  more  or  less 
orthodox  opinions  concerning  revelation  and  inspiration,  and 
show  also  that  they  are  asserting  no  dishonesty  on  the  part  of 
the  Old  Testam.ent  editors  and  redactors.  This  is  the  princi- 
pal current  discussion  concerning  the  Holy  Scripture.  How- 
ever, present  New  Testament  discussions,  or  rather  the  present 
form  thereof,  are  more  closely  allied  to  these  Old  Testament 
methods  than  is  generally  supposed.  For,  while  they  concern 
the  old  Synoptic,  Johannean,  and  Early  Apostolic  problems, 
tliere  has  developed  the  selfsame  literary  and  historic  search 
for  antecedent  and  component  documents,  like  questions  as  to 
authorship  and  editing,  and  above  all  the  same  principle  of  his- 
toric development.  So  far  has  this  gone  in  special  instances 
as  to  assert  extreme  views  of  the  "Kenosis"  and  to  represent 
Jesus  as  largely  possessed  of  the  conceptions  of  His  time  and 
place ;  then,  further,  to  look  upon  the  early  Church  in  its  grow- 
ing thought  as  attributing  to  Jesus  what  had  not  actually  been 
in  His  words,  and  deducing  purposes  of  His  mission  (His  life 
and  death)  not  justified  by  Him. 

Thus  it  is  believed  there  has  been  given  a  brief,  though  just 
statement  of  the  most  important  current  discussions  concern- 
ing the  Holy  Scripture.  It  is  true  that  matters  like  inspiration 
and  the  cessation  of  direct  revelation  with  our  present  canon 
receive  some  constant  attention,  but  our  time  will  not  permit 
their  discussion. 

What  now  is  the  attitude  of  the  Lutheran  Church  thereto? 


224 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 


What  our  attitude  ought  to  be,  because  of  our  symbolic  state- 
ments and  because  of  our  knowledge  of  Truth, — that  shall 
be  our  final  question  and  by  that  we  shall  test  the  attitude  we 
find  actually  to  exist  among  Lutherans.  And  when  we  ask 
now  first  what  the  existing  attitude  is,  we  are  at  once  confront- 
ted  by  the  seeming  impossibility  of  a  statment  thereof,  because 
of  the  wideness  of  our  Church;  because  of  the  fact  that  the 
Church  does  not  consist  merely  of  the  specialists  and  ministers, 
but  includes  the  laity ;  because  of  unions  as  in  Prussia ;  because 
individual's  statements  are  not  necessarily  the  mind  of  the 
Church.  However,  with  the  single  exception  of  "Missouri" 
Lutherans  here  and  abroad,  holding  with  their  usual  unique- 
ness to  the  old  verbal  inspiration  theory,  it  is  probably  true  that 
our  Church's  attitude  to  these  discussions  may  be  designated 
in  the  following  threefold  manner. 

1.  Bold  assumption.  Matiy  individuals  in  Germany  and 
some  in  this  country  and  elsewhere  call  attention  to  Luther's 
apparently  free  handling  of  the  Scriptural  books  and  writers  ; 
they  likewise  emphasize  and  glory  in  our  seeming  symbolic 
freedom  from  doctrinal  bonds  as  to  inspiration,  etc.  They 
therefore  boldly  assume  that  our  Church  has  a  large  measure 
of  liberty,  if  need  be,  to  adopt  results  of  modern  discussion. 

2.  Ignorance.  It  may  seem  harsh  to  assert  it,  yet  particu- 
larly in  America  and  reaching  even  to  the  most  studious  cir- 
cles, ignorance  is  on  the  whole  manifest — manifest  in  nothing 
so  much  as  in  rash  denunciation. 

3.  Calm  security ;  a  calmness,  which  is  the  more  marevllous 
when  compared  with  the  dismay  evident  in  other  Christian  cir- 
cles ;  a  security,  which  is  unmoved  by  the  strongest  evidences 
of  widespread  acceptance  of  these  modern  ideas. 

Now,  finally,  let  us  test  each  of  the  three,  searching  whether 
they  be  proper  attitudes  for  the  Lutheran  Church,  ascertain- 
ing in  how  far  they  rest  upon  our  real  life  and  knowledge  and 
position  as  a  Church.  It  is  hoped  that  thereby  we  shall  in  the 
end  realize  our  true  position  towards  not  merely  current,  but 
all  discussions  of  the  Holy  Scripture ;  that  we  shall  gain  a 
clearer  view  of  our  position  concerning  inspiration ;  that  we 
shall  conceive  afresh  the  far  reaching  possibilities  of  our  prin- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  225 

ciples ;  that  we  shall  gain  new  stimulus  in  our  Church  con- 
sciousness, and  once  more  thank  Him  who  guided  our  fathers 
and  us. 

I.     Bold  assumption.     It  is  largely  a  piece  of  assumption  to 
assert  that  we  have  no  doctine  of  inspiration.     It  is  likewise 
a  misunderstanding  of  Luther's  broad  conceptions  to  seek  in 
him  and  in  his  statement  concerning    Scripture  the  justification 
for   modern   extravagances.      The   truth   in   both   claims   will 
appear  later.     For  the  present  we  call  attention  merely  to  our 
Formal  Principle,  and  would  also  refer  to  an  article  by  Prof. 
Nosgen  in  the  "Lutheran  Quarterly"  of  April,  1896.     The  ar- 
ticle is  on  "The  Teaching  of  the  Lutheran  Symbols  concern- 
ing the  Holy  Scripture,"  and  it  brings  forth  a  sometimes  start- 
ling array  of  evidence,  revealing  confessional  acknowledgment 
on  our  part  to  far  more  than  is  usually  supposed.     Without 
the  time  to  quote  therefrom  and  independent  thereof,  this  much 
is  easily  evident  to  any  Lutheran  as  for  and  against  those  who 
assume  our  complete  freedom :  The  modern    discussions    con- 
cerning the  Holy  Scripture,  while  they  claim  to  proceed  upon  a 
purely  objective  literary  and  historical  course,  are  very  clearly 
controlled  by  a  subjective  theory  and  philosophical  conception. 
It  is  evolution  and  the  evolutionary  philosophy  swaying  both 
the  Old  and  the  New  Testament  ideas,  and  seeking    to    force 
history  and  religion    into    agreement.     There    is    beauty    and 
truth  in  the  idea  of  development;  there  is  development  in  the' 
Scripture;  but  a  rearrangement  of  Scripture  upon  the  subjec- 
tive idea  of  the  critics  as  to  what  the  development  ought  to  be 
is  not  permissible ;  nor  will  Lutheran  ideas  of  the  Word  allow 
that  what  zvas  development  in  objective  revelation  from    God 
should  be  presented  as  though  it  were  a  subjective  development 
in  tlie  knowledge  of  God  on  the  part  of  Israel  and  the  indivi- 
duals of  the  Scripture — yet  such  is  much  of  the  modern  pre- 
sentation.   Lutheranism  has  wide  room  for  the  idea  of  develop- 
ment in  the  Holy  Scripture,  and  indeed  has  paved  the  way  for 
it ;  she  has  room  to  admit  all  that  a  purely  objective  study  upon  a 
literary  and  historical  basis  shall  gain ;  but  she  cannot  brook 
that  which  interferes  v;ith  the  objectivity  of  God's  revelation 
or  that  which  merely  a  philosophical  theory  demands. 


226  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENKRAL    CONFERENCE. 

2.  Ignorance.  In  some  wa}'  the  indifference  which  Hes  be- 
hind the  prevaiHng  ignorance  of  American  Lutherans  upon 
these  matters  ought  to  be  stirred.  It  has  been  suggested  from 
other  quarters  that  there  rests  upon  us  a  large  responsibility 
in  this  particular.  Our  country  is  being  flooded  with  many  a 
book  and  phamphlet  from  negative  critical  sources,  which  is 
often  a  diluted  and  sometimes  almost  a  plagiarized  reproduc- 
tion of  radical  German  thought.  Standing  as  we  do  in  closest 
touch,  with  these  German  centres  of  theological  ferment, 
knowing  and  possessing  the  spirit  of  the  German,  realizing 
how  much  of  a  more  positive  nature  the  Fatherland  has  work- 
ed out.  and  conscious  that  the  day  is  at  hand  when  from  that 
perpetual  forerunner  in  Scriptural  truth  there  will  come  the 
strong  defence  against  overwrought  conceptions  and  the  posi- 
tive gain  from  current  discussions — in  view  of  all  this  our  ob- 
ligation to  American  Christianity  sets  the  brand  of  culpability 
upon  our  ignorance.  And,  furthermore,  we  are  by  our  indif- 
ference losing  much  of  the  strong  Scriptural  truth  which  these 
modern  struggles  have  already  gained — truth  which  works  out 
into  the  most  practical  form.  The  results  of  Biblical  Theology, 
the  impressive  development  of  divine  revelation,  the  stronger 
lights  upon  the  life  and  mission  of  Jesus,  the  uncovered  fajts 
of  Apostolic  history — all  these  have  already  prepare  I  for  the 
Christian  new  understanding  and  new  delight  in  his  Bible,  new 
jov  in  the  comniunion  with  his  Savioni.  his  God. 

3.  Finally,^  that  attitude  of  calm  security  on  the  part  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  so  impressive  in  the  midst  of  the  fearing 
ones,  so  characteristic  of  our  spirit — Is  it  a  false  security,  or 
does  it  rest  upon  some  deep  foundations  in  the  principles  which 
mark  us  for  a  separate  existence  as  a  body  of  Christians?  We 
are  assured  that  it  is  the  lalter,  iwd  it  is  to  this  point  that  we 
would  give  largest  attention,  expecting  to  manifest  our  determin- 
ing position  upon  Scriptural  questions  and  upon  the  develop- 
ment thereof  for  the  future.  We  have  a  double  consideration. 
(a).  By  two  great  principles  do  we  find  ourselves  de- 
termined in  all  matters  of  truth  and  life,  the  material  princi- 
ple concerning  justification  by  faith  alone  in  Christ  and  the 
formal  principle  concerning  the  sole  normative  authority  of 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  227 

the  Holy  Scripture  for  doctrine  and  practice.  It  is  liowever 
an  acknowledged  and  oft  mentioned  fact  that  by  Lutherans  the 
material  principle  receives  the  precedence  and  greater  em- 
phasis, while  the  entire  Reformed  theologies  emphasize  as  su- 
preme the  formal  principle ;  to  them  the  normative  authority 
of  the  Holy  Scripture  is  the  prime  matter.  It  is  therefore  no 
cause  for  wonder  to  behold  them  so  thoroughly  alarmed  by  the 
inroads  of  modern  critical  discussion ;  they  regard  their  c'tadel 
as  endangered.  For  us  as  Lutherans  there  lies  behind  the 
formal  principle  of  the  Scripture  the  material  principle  of  jus- 
tification or  to  state  the  heart  thereof,  of  Christ.  Behind  the 
Scriptures,  which  are  for  us  the  Word  of  God,  we  are  ever 
contemplating  Christ,  who  is  the  Personal  Word  of  God : 
behind  the  written  Word  we  have  the  Living  Word.  The  Holy 
Scripture  throughout  is  merely  the  recorded  Christ,  a  state- 
ment which  many  of  His  own  words  justify.  It  is  by  this  true 
and  important  regard  for  the  relative  positions  of  the  material 
and  formal  principles  that  Lutherans  feel  so  calm  a  security 
amid  all  discussions  of  the  Scripture.  In  the  sturdy  assurance 
of  our  faith  in  the  personal  Christ  we  gain  abiding  confidence 
in  that  by  which  He  has  been  mediated  to  us,  or  better  in  which 
He  came  to  us. 

In  this  connection  also  comes  a  further  suggestion  to  the 
Lutheran.  All  the  mystery  of  the  divine  and  human  in  the 
written  Word  has  its  full  parallel  in  the  Personal  Word,  Jesus 
Christ.  For  centuries  the  Christian  Church  ^as  struggled  with 
the  glorious  mystery  of  His  personality,  and  not  without  dis- 
tinct advance.  We  recognize  a  positive  gain  in  Luther's  state- 
ments of  the  "communicatio  idiomatum,"  and  many  are  see- 
ing a  further  advance  in  the  modern  discussions  of  the 
"kenosis."  May  we  not  safely  predict  that  all  progress  in  the 
Christo  logical  investigation  will  finally  effect  and  alone  make 
possible  true  gain  in  the  doctrines  concerning  the  Scripture; 
must  not  this  be  the  result?  No,  can  we  not  almost  see  that 
Protestantism  and  especially  Lutheranism  having  in  the  i6th 
century  reclaimed  the  written  Word  for  Christianity,  has  been 
going  through  the  same  struggle  therewith  that  '  the  early 
Christian  centuries  had  as  to  Christ,  the  Personal  Word.  In 
those  centuries  there  was  first  the  contest  which  established 


228  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  then  that  which  estabUshed 
His  humanity.  So  also  the  first  Protestant  centuries  fought 
for  the  supreme  divinity  of  the  written  word  ;  then,  when  that 
idea  was  carried  to  an  extreme,  there  arose  and  still  wages 
the  battle  for  the  establishment  of  the  humanity  thereof  and 
their  proper  mingling.  ]\fay  we  not  hope  that  a  coming  Luth- 
er will  proclaim  the  "Communicatio  idiomatum"  in  the  written 
word,  and  beyond  that  some  coming  Thomasius  write  of  the 
"kenosis"  therein? 

Herein  lies  some  indication  of  Lutheranism's  attitude  toward 
Scriptural  discussion,  and  outlook  concerning  inspiration  and 
other  doctrines  of  the  Scripture.  It  arises  from  our  view  of 
the  material  principle  as  supreme  over  the  formal  principle, 
our  view  of  the  Personal  Word  behind  the  written  Word. 

(b).  We  proceed  to  the  second  consideration  which  is  the 
cause  of  the  calm  security  manifested  by  the  Lutheran  Church 
in  the  face  of  current  discussions. 

The  formal  principle  is  usually  stated  by  us  in  common 
terms  with  all  Protestanism,  we  would  not  wish  to  seem  hereti- 
cal, yet  we  believe  that  this  is  a  grave  mistake,  and  that  our  true 
position  demands  that  we  mark  a  vital  difiference  on  our  part 
even  in  this  formal  principle.  Let  it  be  remembered  that  the 
statement  of  the  two  principles  material  and  formal,  is  a  mat- 
ter of  no  later  date  than  the  century  just  passed  and  that  we 
are  therefore  not  inseparably  wedded  to  their  terminology. 
Yet  it  is  not  the  terminology  we  would  dispute,  but  the  com- 
mon, narrow  conception  of  the  formal  principle  in  agreement 
with  the  views  of  other  Protestantism.  There  are  perhaps  no 
greater  defamers  of  Luther  and  original  Lutheranism  than 
the  modern  schools  of  Ritschl  and  Harnack  with  their  claims 
that  they  are  his  genuine  desciples,  the  true  exponents  of  real 
Protestantism ;  yet  they  are  right  in  claiming  that  we  Luther- 
ans of  the  modern  day  have  much  more  to  learn  from  Luther, 
and  have  not  profited  sufficiently  by  all  that  has  been  offered 
in  early  Lutheranism's  rich  finds. 

Here  is  our  point.  For  Lutherans  the  Holy  Scripture  or  the 
Word  of  God  is  above  all  thing  the  Means  of  Grace ;  to  other 
Protestantism  it  is  in  itself  not  so  at  all — but  merely  a  norma- 
tive authority.     They  regard  the  Holy   Spirit  as  the  creator 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  ^     229 

thereof,  but  practically  represent  Him  as  having  left  it  then  as 
a  finished  task ;  to  us  He  is  not  only  the  creator,  but  the  forever 
immanent  preserver  thereof.  They  picture  that  fusion  of  in- 
spiration by  which  in  the  spirit's  fire  there  came  forth  at  last 
the  durable  steel  which  breaks  the  rocks ;  we  see  the  word  con- 
stantly not  only  as  a  hammer  that  breaketh  the  rock  in  pieces, 
but  also  forever  as  a  living  fire  according  to  the  well  known 
text.  They  speak  of  the  "Impregnable  Rock  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture" and  truly  designate  their  view  in  its  hardness  thus ;  we 
see  it  better  as  a  living,  productive  seed.  Concisely  we  mean 
that  Lutherans  should  properly  never  even  think  of  the  Holy 
Scripture  apart  froni  the  Spirit  of  God,  zvho  is  forever  and 
to  our  knowledge  only  active  therein  and  thereby.  It  is  for  this 
reason  that  we  believe  the  cold  conception  of  the  formal 
principle  current  among  other  Protestants  is  impossible 
for  us  and  that,  though  we  may  use  the  terminology  of  the 
principle,  we  should  never  do  so  without  the  consciousness  of 
the  living  heart  of  the  Holy  Scripture.  We  probably  do  not 
realize  as  yet  how  large  an  influence  this  truth  concerning  the 
Scripture  has  upon  our  entire  doctrinal  position ;  how  em- 
phatically it  marks  us  oflf  from  both  Roman  Catholicism  with 
its  view  of  the  Spirit  in  the  organized  Church  and  from  other 
Protestants  with  their  indefinite  views  of  the  Spirit ;  how  tell- 
ing its  demands  are  in  our  practical  Church  life.  We  certain- 
ly do  not  seem  at  least  to  be  emphasizing  it  sufficiently.  For 
our  present  discussion  however  we  call  attention  to  it  as  be- 
ing the  second  great  factor  in  our  idea  of  the  Scripture,  the 
second  great  cause  of  our  calm  security,  the  second  great  hope 
of  the  future  development.  Lutherans  in  the  midst  of  all  dis- 
cussions concerning  the  Holy  Scripture  know  of  this  inner 
witness  of  the  Spirit  working  forever,  even  upon  the  heart  and 
mind  of  the  negative  critic,  correcting,  preserving,  conquering. 
Thus  we  have  made  a  twofold  presentation  of  the  cause  of 
our  calm  security,  and  have  aimed  to  reveal  its  justification.  We 
are  ever  seeing  the  living.  Personal  Word  behind  the  written 
Word,  and  also  we  are  ever  seing  the  written  Word  itself  as  a 
living  Word  because  of  the  indwelling  spirit.  There  comes 
thereby  also  a  union  of  the  twofold  consideration.     The  spirit 


230  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

who  by  His  indwelling  renders  the  written  Word  a  living 
Word  is  the  spirit  of  Christ,  the  spirit  who  testifies  of  Christ 
alone,  and  therefore  the  Personal  Word  behind  the  written 
Word  is  Himself  the  living  power  in  the  written  Word. 

We  hasten  to  a  close.  A  consideration  of  what  has  been 
presented  will  give  a  different  light  upon  Luther's  treatment 
of  Scripture  books  and  authors.  It  will  also  reveal  to  us  that 
the  seeming  absence  of  a  statement  upon  inspiration  in  our 
symbols  was  not  caused,  as  is  generally  stated,  by  the  absence 
of  occasion  for  such  statement ;  it  is  rather  because  we  have  in 
these  fundamental  Lutheran  positions  the  foundations  for  a  true 
and  sure  statement  thereof.  I  will  suggest  also  that  in  the  end 
we  shall  probably  come  back  to  a  right  appreciation  of  Luther's 
method  of  estimating  Scripture  and  portions  of  Scripture — 
"je  nachdem  die  Schriften  Christum  treiben." 


REMARKS. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Schmauk  said  : — 

The  paper  just  presented  is  one  of  the  ablest  of  its  kind 
and  length  ever  given  to  the  Church  on  this  subject.  Yet  the 
Lutheran  Church  today,  however  strong  her  natural  attitude  of 
security  may  be.  cannot  afford  to  assume  it  with  regard  to 
present  issues.  For  the  Biblical  criticism  of  the  day,  both 
without  and  within  the  Church,  does  not  confine  itself  to  an 
examination  of  the  formal  principle  of  the  Reformation  by 
dissecting  ancient  Scriptural  records ;  but  it  grounds  itself  in 
the  material  principle  of  organic  development  by  natural 
evolution.  It  is  not  chiefly  the  formal,  but  fundamentally  the 
material  principle  that  is  at  stake  in  current  critical  discussions. 
A  criticism  that  eliminates  the  supernatural  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, cannot  leave  untouched  the  incarnation,  the  atonement, 
the  supernatural  operation  of  the  means  of  grace  and  the 
miracles  of  redemption  in  the  New  Testament.  The  ultimate 
issue  of  current  critical  discussions  leads  directly  to  the  ques- 
tion, Shall  justification  by  faith  stand?"  The  man  who  puts 
his  finger  on  the  Old  Testament  records  to  divide  them  on 
internal  grounds  of  probability  is  also  the  man  who  reaches 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  *23l 

his  hand  back  to  Jehovah  Himself  and  develops  Him  as  an 
exalted  human  conception  from  the  original  Baal  who  was  the 
god  of  the  primitive  depths  in  the  Semites'  worship  of  nature. 


The  Rev.  Dr.  Spieker  said : — 

Such  papers  as  this  are  calculated  to  promote  the  unifica- 
tion of  the  different  parts  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  this  coun- 
try. The  remarkable  unity  of  our  Church  in  America  over 
against  the  assaults  of  negative  criticism  of  the  Word  of  God 
are  a  cause  for  gratitude  and  rejoicing.  As  a  Church  we  have 
been  enabled  to  realize  that  our  strength  lies  in  the  proclama- 
tion of  the  truth  of  revelation,  which  we  accept  as  the  highest 
and  best  science,  and  the  only  really  effectual  antidote  against 
the  poison  of  error,  with  which  the  atmosphere  of  the  day.  is 
charged.  This,  we  believe,  is  the  true  ark  of  our  safety.  In 
the  kingdom  of  God,  liberty  and  victory  are  always  on  the  side 
of  the  truth.  But  safety  never  implies  a  false  security,  as  is 
evident  from  the  fact  that  our  Church  has  furnished  a  number 
of  positive  contributions  to  the  literature  of  the  controversy. 
Our  students,  at  least  in  our  seminary  at  Mt.  Airy,  are  not 
ignorant  of  Satan's  devices  as  to  the  negative  criticism  and  its 
prime  object,  and  our  laity,  as  a  body,  have  with  the  teachers 
of  the  Church,  had  grace  and  common  sense  given  them,  to 
estimate  negation  at  its  proper  value. 


The  Rev.  Dr.  Horn  said : — 

The  paper  of  Mr.  Knubel  is  an  admirable  contribution  on 
an  important  subject.  It  is  a  mistake  to  say  that  our  Church 
feels  secure.  The  newspapers  spread  among  our  people  the 
latest  extravagances  of  criticism.  Many  of  our  young  men  are 
educated  in  institutions  beyond  the  influence  of  our  Church. 
And  not  a  few  of  our  ministers  are  a  good  deal  disturbed.  The 
study  of  Biblical  Introduction  is  of  prime  importance  at  the 
present  time.  It  has  been  said  that  the  public  prints  do  not 
make  much  account  of  our  Church.  We  do  not  deserve  con- 
sideration unless  we  are  fit  to  lead  and  able  to  answer  the  ques- 
tions of  the  age.  Moreover  we  are  bound  by  the  very  princi- 
ples of  our  belief  to  inquire  into  the  foundations  of  the  faith. 


23^  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

No  dogmaticians,  no  resolutions  of  Synods,  no  decisions  of 
ancient  councils  can  settle  once  and  forever  what  books  are 
God's  Word.  We  must  always  be  asking  where  God's  Word 
is,  and  how  we  know  it  to  be  God's  Word  and  must  always  be 
able  to  justify  our  answer  to  others. 


The  Rev.  Dr.  C.  S.  Albert  said  :— 

The  subject  before  us  is  one  of  the  most  important  today. 
The  higher  criticism  is  far  more  prevalent  than  many  of  us 
care  to  conceive.  As  yet  our  own  Lutheran  Church  has  been 
but  slightly  affected,  but  that  we  will  escape  contagion  is  not 
to  be  hoped  for.  Therefore,  papers  like  that  just  heard  are 
most  valuable  for  they  point  out  how  we  may  meet  this  danger 
that  is  threatening  the  very  existence  of  our  faith.  I  know  it  is 
claimed  by  these  critics  that  they  are  thoroughly  loyal  to  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  yet  they  are  attacking  the  historicity  of 
the  scriptures  which  are  essential  to  the  maintenance  of  our 
faith.  A  faith  which  has  no  historical  basis,  that  is  dependent 
upon  feeling  or  emotion  alone,  will  not  abide  the  time  of  doubt 
and  trial.  We  are  so  constituted  that  inward  evidence  must 
continually  be  supplemented  by  outward  evidence.  The  out- 
ward evidence  is  not  sufficient  without  inward  testimony, 
neither  is  the  inward  testimony  able  to  stand  without  the  out- 
ward evidence. 

Take  for  instance,  the  attacks  now  being  made  on  Abraham, 
Isaac  and  Jacob  as  real  historical  characters.  They  are  repre- 
sented to  us  as  tribal  names.  They  never  existed.  There  is 
gathered  under  the  name  of  Abraham,  for  instance,  the  events 
which  were  characteristic  of  the  tribe.  Ingenious  writers,  who 
indeed  had  a  high  moral  purpose  presented  human  experiences 
which  they  attach  to  these  tribal  names.  They  added  stories, 
with  great  moral  truths  embodied  in  them,  but  often  with  no 
foundation  in  reality.  But  carry  this  out  by  reference  to  the  New 
Testament.  Paul  declares  that  Abraham  was  an  illustration  of 
a  righteousness  which  comes  by  faith.  He  certainly  believed 
him  to  have  been  a  real  personage,  with  great  faith  toward 
God,  but  if  he  were  not  a  real  personage,  what  becomes  of  the 
illustration  which  Paul  has  made  basal,  and  what  of  the  doC- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  233 

trine  of  righteousness  by  faith  and  what  of  the  inspiration  of 
Paul  and  his  knowledge  of  the  scriptures?  Attack  the  his- 
toricity of  Abraham,  and  you  have  attacked  the  argument  of 
Paul,  and  more  than  his  argument,  his  inspiration  by  the  Holy 
Spirit.  But  go  deeper  than  this.  Our  Lord  Jesus  says: 
"Abraham  saw  my  day  and  was  glad."  He  certainly  refers  to 
Abraham  as  a  person  that  lived.  He  is  not  the  name  of  a 
tribe  to  him.  The  doctrine  of  His  self-emptying  is  used  by 
these  critics  in  order  to  avert  the  conflict  between  Him  as  the 
Son  of  God  with  knowledge  of  all  things,  and  this  woeful  ig- 
norance of  plain  fact.  And  will  that  doctrine  suffice  under 
circumstances?  Not  at  all.  The  actual  deduction  to  be  made 
is  that  if  the  historicity  of  Abraham  is  a  myth,  then  Jesus 
Christ  was  human.  If  His  knowledge  is  imperfect,  we  havt 
no  divine  knowledge  and  what  is  worse  no  divine  Lord  and 
Saviour. 

Whilst  we  cannot  escape  criticism  of  the  Bible  which  has  its 
legitimate  task,  we  must  be  prepared  to  meet  the  unjust  deduc- 
tions of  destructive  criticism  and  present  those  true  deductions 
which  shall  preserve  to  us  the  Bible  as  the  infallible  guide  to 
God's  truth  and  revelation. 


The  Rev.  Knubel  said : — 

The  purpose  of  the  paper  presented  has  not  been  to  lull  us 
as  Lutherans  into  apathy,  as  a  full  consideration  thereof  will 
reveal.  It  is  true  that  the  largest  consideration  was  given  to 
that  attitude  of  calm  security,  and  its  genuine,  deep  cause  re- 
vealed. This  was  because  that  attitude  is  the  most  prevalent 
one  actually  existing  and  also  because  it  is  the  fundamental  at- 
titude our  Church  must  and  may  assume ;  it  rests  upon  our 
deepest  principles.  However,  under  the  second  heading  at- 
tention was  called  to  our  responsibility  and  a  severe  word  of 
blame  applied  to  all  ignorance  and  mere  indifference ;  our 
genuine  security  fits  us  the  more  to  struggle  with  these  ques- 
tions. 


/ 


234  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

PROBLEMS  OF  CHURCH  POLITY. 
By  the  Rev.  Prof.  J.  Fry.  D.  D. 

Church  PoHty  signifies  the  principles  and  rules  by  which  the 
church  is  governed  and  its  affairs  administered. 

Its  derivation  from  politics,  or  politicia,  shows  its  primary 
meaning  to  be  the  relation  a  man  sustains  to  the  city  of  which  he 
is  an  inhabitant.  In  ecclesiastical  usage,  however,  it  includes 
the  entire  system  of  church  government.  It  has  the  same  root 
and  is  nearly  synoymous  with  the  word  policy ;  the  difference 
being  that  church  polity  refers  to  a  fixed  form  of  governr.ient, 
while  church  policy  relates  to  ways  and  means  wdiich  are  tem- 
porary and  liable  to  change  from  time  to  time  as  may  seem  most 
expedient.  A  church  therefore  does  not  adopt  any  form  of 
policy,  but  some  fixed  form  of  polity  is  necessary.  This  polity 
may  differ  in  different  countries  and  in  different  periods  of 
history,  but  there  must  always  be  a  polity  which  is  recognized 
as  the  proper  form  of  government  in  maintaining  its  princi- 
ples, governing  its  pastors  and  congregations,  and  carrying  on 
its  work. 

The  purpose  of  the  polity  of  the  church  is  three-fold ;  its 
preservation,  purification  and  perpetuation.  Self-preserva- 
tion is  the  first  purpose  of  all  government;  and  the  first  prob- 
lem of  church  polity  is  how  best  to  secure,  defend  and  protect 
the  faith,  cultus  and  life  of  the  church  against  all  error,  un- 
belief, or  deeds  of  violence.  Equally  important  is  it  to  main- 
tain the  purity  of  the  church,  by  preventing  improper  persons 
becoming  its  teachers,  ministers  or  members ;  and  by  exercis- 
ing its  discipline  on  those  within  its  fold  who  err  from  the 
faith,  fall  from  grace,  or  bring  shame  on  its  name.  The  third 
purpose  is  the  perpetuation  of  the  church,  i.  e.,  its  constant 
growth  and  progress  in  fulfilment  of  its  commission  to  go  unto 
all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature.  As  an 
institution  established  of  God  for  the  salvation  of  men  it  needs 
a  certain  polity,  as  well  as  a  wise  policy,  in  the  management  of 
its  complex  machinery  whereby  it  moves,  "forward  and  does 
its  work  in  conquering  the  world  for  Christ. 

It  is  not  the  province  of  this  paper  to  enter  on  an  account 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  235 

of  the  various  forms  of  government  which  have  been  adopted 
and  tried  in  the  history  of  the  Christian  Church.  The  Luth- 
eran Church  from  the  beginning  laid  all  stress  on  faith  and 
doctrine,  and  place  forms  of  government  among  those  things 
which  should  be  left  to  the  liberty  of  the  church.  She  remem- 
bered the  words  of  St.  Paul  that  while  there  was  one  Lord, 
there  were  differences  of  administrations  and  diversities  of 
operations.  In  her  history  and  development  she  has  recognized 
and  adopted  episcopal,  synodical  and  congregational  forms  of 
government,  as  times  and  circumstances  made  best.  Wherever 
the  bishops  accepted  the  pure  gospel  as  confessed  at  Augsburg, 
the  episcopal  form  of  polity  was  retained, — and  where  they 
rejected  it  our  churches  rejected  them,  and  exercised  their 
inherent  authority  to  provide  for  a  ministry  and  the  adminis- 
tration of  their  congregations  in  accordance  with  their  faith. 
And  thus  it  came  to  pass  each  country  accepting  the  Luth- 
eran doctrine  had  its  own  polity  and  method  of  church  govern- 
ment. And  so,  when  these  countries  contributed  to  the  popu- 
lation of  -the  new  world  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  all  these 
varieties  of  government  were  represented  here.  For  some 
years  they  kept  in  touch  with,  if  not  under  control  of,  the 
church  authorities  of  the  lands  from  which  they  came,  until 
the  time  arrived  for  them  to  adopt  a  polity  of  their  own,  adapt- 
ed to  their  situation  and  needs  and  to  the  republican  form  of 
civil  government  which  they  found  established  here. 

As  our  church  has  never  adopted  any  particular  form  of 
government  as  Lutheran,  church  polity  will  always  remain  one 
of  her  open  questions,  about  which  men  may  differ  without 
prejudice  to  their  orthodoxy  or  church  loyalty.  This  fact  how- 
ever, that  our  church  polity  is  an  open  question,  makes  it  a 
troublesome  question.  It  is  constantly  rising  up  and  demand- 
ing changes,  which  demands  cannot  be  answered  or  settled  by 
an  appeal  to  our  recognized  standards  or  confessions  of  faith. 
Our  subject  therefore  is  wisely  worded  "Problems  of  Church 
polity."    Problems  they  are,  and  problems  they  will  remain. 

There  are  two  of  these  problems,  the  consideration  of  which 
must  suffice  in  the  limited  time  at  our  disposal ;  is  any  essen- 
tial change  in  our  church  polity  in  this  country  practicable. — 
and  if  not  ,  in  what  way  can  our  polity  be  inproved  ?     But  be- 


236  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

fore  proceeding  to  their  consideration,   some   statement  con- 
cerning our  present  polity  is  important. 

I.    OUR    PRESENT   POLITY. 


The  principle  which  underlies  our  church  polity  is  that  the 
power  of  the  church  lies  in  its  congregations,  which  in  their 
normal  state  consist  of  Christian  believers,  having  regular  pas- 
tors over  them,  and  is  exercised  by  all  the  members  thereof, 
and  not  by  any  distinct  order  or  class.  As  each  person,  when 
uniting  with  a  congregation,  yields  the  exercise  of  his  power  to 
the  will  of  the  majority,  so  these  congregations,  uniting  to- 
gether into  bodies  called  synods,  transfer  many  of  their  powers 
to  these  larger  bodies  for  the  sake  of  good  order,  mutual  pro- 
tection, and  co-operation  in  the  general  work  of  the  church. 
In  so  doing,  these  congregations  do  not  lose  their  individual- 
ity, but  simply  delegate  certain  powers  to  the  synod  of  which 
they  form  a  part.  Our  polity  is  not  the  division  of  the  greater 
body  into  those  which  are  less,  but  of  uniting  the  lesser  into 
something  which  is  larger.  We  do  not  divide  Synods  into 
Conferences,  and  Conferences  into  congregations, — but  unite 
congregations  into  Synods,  and  Synods  into  general  bodies. 
The  power  exercised  by  the  church  does  not  descend  from  the 
Synod  to  the  congregations,  but  ascends  from  the  congrega- 
tions to  the  synod  for  united  and  more  efficient  action.  Our 
polity  therefore  is  primarily  congregational,  but  in  active 
operation  is  largely  synodical. 

The  adoption  of  this  polity  by  our  church  in  this  country, 
was  accidental  rather  than  the  result  of  deliberate  consideration 
and  choice.  Had  the  Swedes,  who  came  in  1637,  settled  in 
New  Amsterdam  (now  New  York)  instead  of  on  the  banks  of 
the  Delaware,  and  given  their  form  of  government  to  congre- 
gations of  the  Lutheran  faith  in  that  centre  of  influence,  it  is 
possible  the  form  of  episcopacy  known  in  Sweden  would  have 
prevailed  among  the  Lutheran  churches  of  America.  Indeed 
such  plan  was  proposed  by  the  Rev.  Wilhelm  Christoph  Ber- 
kenmyer.  who,  while  pastor  of  the  Dutch  Lutheran  congrega- 
tion in  New  York,  wrote  to  the  Swedish  pastors  on  the  Dela- 
ware proposing  that  all  Lutheran  congregations  in  this  coun- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  237 

try,  whether  Dutch,  German  or  Swedish,  be  placed  under  the 
care  of  the  king  of  Sweden. 

It  so  happened  however  that  the  first  Lutherans  who  gave 
start  to  our  church  polity  on  these  Western  shores  came  from 
the  Netherlands,  and  brought  with  them  the  church  constitu- 
tions and  form  of  government  to  which  they  had  been  accus-' 
tomed  in  that  country,  and  the  imprint  of  which  is  yet  found 
in  the  constitutions  and  customs  of  many  of  our  congregations. 
Even  some  of  the  pioneer  pastors  from  Germany,  like  Berken- 
myer  himself,  came  appointed  and  empowered  by  the  consis- 
tory of  Amsterdam.  Muhlenberg  also  came  under  its  influ- 
ence during  his  temporary  residence  in  New  York  as  pastor 
of  the  Dutch  Lutheran  congregation,  and  the  Synod  of  Am- 
sterdam certainly  had  strong  influence  in  shaping  our  Ameri- 
can church  polity. 

While  the  first  influence  which  shaped  our  church  polity 
was  therefore  accidental  rather  than  designed  or  selected,  the 
further  development  of  that  polity  was  interrupted  by  the 
overwhelming  numbers  of  Lutherans  coming  from  Germany, 
who  soon  outnumbered  the  Dutch  and  Swedish  Lutherans 
combined.  Although  these  German  Lutheran  emigrants  had 
a  common  faith  and  language,  they  had  no  uniform  polity  or 
plan  of  government.  In  all  Germany  there  was  no  recognized 
central  authority  to  give  them  rules  and  regulations,  or  to  de- 
cide questions  of  polity.  The  manifold  divisions  of  the  fath- 
erland furnished  manifold  customs  and  ideas  which  could  not 
be  combined  into  any  system  acceptable  to  all.  Accustomed 
as  they  had  been  to  have  the  State  decide  and  regulate  all  such 
questions,  they  were  neither '  competent  nor  ready  to  decide 
on  an}-  permanent  form  of  church  government.  The  one  cen- 
tre in  Germany  which  had  most  to  do  in  regulating  the  affairs 
of  Lutheran  congregations  in  this  country  was  Halle,  and  yet 
the  fathers  at  Halle  were  men  engaged  and  interested  in  the 
preparation  and  sending  out  of  missionaries  to  preach  the  Gos- 
pel and  administer  the  Sacraments,  rather  than  to  establish  a 
particular  form  of  government  by  which  the  congregations  or- 
ganized should  be  controlled.  It  is  true  that  Muhlenberg  and 
his^  associates  were  called  to  "establish  good  order"  in  fhe  con- 
gregations as. well  as  to  preach  and  teach  the  people,  but  they 


238  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

came  with  no  prearranged  plan  or  form  of  polity  for  the  uni- 
fication and  government  of  the  churches  they  would  find  or 
plant  here.  And  when  the  day  came  for  them  to  draw  up  con- 
stitutions for  these  congregations,  they  were  influenced  as 
much  by  the  Lutheran  churches  in  London  and  Amsterdam, 
as  by  those  in  Halle  or  any  part  of  Germany.  There  was  as 
much  of  Providence  as  of  accident  in  this,  for  it  left  our  fath- 
ers free  to  adopt  such  polity  as  was  best  adapted  to  the  new 
order  of  things  which  they  found  here,  where  for  the  first  time 
Lutheran  congregations  were  to  be  established  in  a  country 
in  which  Church  and  State  were  absolutely  separate.  They 
were  wise  men,  and  when  questions  of  church  polity  arose  for 
decision,  they  were  decided  according  to  the  needs,  situation 
and  condition  of  the  congregations  they  were  serving  here, 
rather  than  by  the  conditions  and  regulations  of  those  from 
which  they  had  come. 

As  we  have  already  stated,  no  forms  of  polity  was  ever 
adopted  by  vote  in  any  ecclesiastical  convention  of  our  early 
churches  in  this  country.  It  was  a  gradual  development,  start- 
ing with  certain  features  of  the  Lutheran  church  in  the  Neth- 
erlands and  shaping  itself  from  out  the  various  and  often  di- 
vergent features  of  church  government  in  all  the  lands  of 
Europe  which  contributed  to  the  Lutheran  population  of  this 
country.  It  has  grown  with  the  growth  of  our  church.  The 
Ministerium  of  Pennsylvania  and  adjacent  States,  the  Mother 
Synod,  was  a  very  different  ecclesiastical  body  in  its  purposes 
and  powers  at  first,  from  what  it  is  today.  There  is  no  in- 
consistency in  this  fact,  for  while  Lutheran  doctrine  is  fixed 
Lutheran  polity  is  flexible.  There  is  a  parfJlel  between  our 
church  polity  and  the  national  polity  under  which  we  live. 
Both  began  as  experiments  which  have  had  a  historical  de- 
velopment. As  that  which  at  first  was  colonial  has  become  fed- 
eral in  the  nation,  so  that  church  polity  which  at  first  was  large- 
ly congregational  has  become  more  and  more  synodical.  We 
are  not  afraid  of  this,  albeit  we  need  to  watch  lest  history  re- 
peats itself  in  the  tendency  to  imperialism, — the  setting  up  of 
a.  monarchy  in  the  nation  and  a  hierarchy  in  the  church. 

The  fact  that  our  polity  is  still  largely  congregational  and 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE,  239 

tliat  our  Synods  are  considered  only  advisory  bodies,  has  been 
regarded  by  many  as  the  weak  feature  of  our  church  in  this 
countr}'.  The  many  losses  and  disasters  our  church  has  suf- 
fered in  the  past,  and  the  many  unsatisfactory  conditions  we 
find  today  are  attributed  to  our  polity,  and  the  saying  is  often 
heard  that  while  we  are  the  strongest  in  doctrine  we  are  the 
weakest  in  government^  of  any  part  of  the  Christian  church. 
Without  admitting  or  denying  the  correctness  of  this  saying, 
it  starts  the  question — why  not  change  our  polity  and  adopt 
a  stronger  form  of  government?  This  brings  us  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  two  problems  in  church  polity,  already  stated, 

II.    PROBLEMS   IN   OUR   CHURCH    POLITY. 

Prohleni_i.  Is  any  essential  change  in  our  present  polity 
practicable f  We  use  the  word  practicable,  rather  than  the 
word  desirable,  because,  much  as  certain  changes  may  be  de- 
sirable, their  discussion  is  useless  if  they  are  not  practicable. 

The  one  change  most  generally  mentioned  and  most  favorably 
esteemed  by  its  advocates,  is  a  change  to  the  episcopal  system: 
the  introduction  of  the  office  of  bishops  similar  to  those  in  the 
Lutheran  church  in  Scandinavian  countries.  It  is  not  intend- 
ed thereby  to  establish  a  new  order  of  men  in  the  church,  but 
only  an  office  of  special  dignity,  permanence  and  authority. 
The  advocates  of  this  system  believe  the  establishment  of  this 
office  among  us  in  which  authority  and  power  is  lodged  in  cer- 
tain persons  who  shall  see  that  the  affairs  of  the  church  are 
properly  administered  and  its  rules  and  laws  enforced,  would 
speedily  relieve,  and  often  remove,  many  ills  under  whicii  our 
body  ecclesiastic  is  suffering.  They  point  to  churches  under 
the  episcopal  system  which  are  prosperous,  powerful  and  in- 
fluential, as  the  result  of  that  polity.  They  also  refer  to  the 
fact  that  the  office  of  bishop  has  been  retained  in  our  churclies 
in  Northern  Europe  from  the  beginning,  and  the  adoption  of 
the  same  polity  by  our  church  in  this  country  would  violate 
no  Lutheran  principle  or  usage.  The  recent  visit  of  Bishop 
Von  Scheele  of  Sweden  to  tliis  country,  and  the  very  favorable 
impression  produced  wherever  he  appeared,  has  revived  the 
question, — "why  cannot  we  have  Lutheran  bishops  in  Ameri- 
ca as  well  as  in  Sweden?"    There  is  no  sma'\  number  of  men 


240,  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

and  women  who  seem  convinced  we  would  gain  greatly  in 
public  esteem  and  recognition,  as  well  as  in  church  order  and 
discipline,  if  men  of  equal  dignity  and  fitness  were  made  bish- 
ops of  our  church  in  this  country,  and  our  church  polity  were 
changed  accordingly. 

The  problem  has  its  attractions  and  there  are  arguments  in 
its  favor, — but  its  successful  establishment  in  our  church  in 
the  United  States  would  require  radical  changes  in  the  constitu- 
tion of  our  congregations  to  which  the  members  would  never 
submit;  and  therefore  we  afirm  the  problem  is  impracticable. 

If  bishops  are  to  be  simply  ornamental  figure-heads,  to  add 
dignity  and  impressiveness  to  ecclesiastical  ceremonies  at 
church  conventions,  consecrations,  ordinations,  etc.,  or  on  so- 
cial occasions,  it  might  not  be  difficult  to  establish  the  office, 
but  it  would  not  help  our  church  polity.  If  rather  the  office 
is  desirable  in  order  that  our  government  may  be  strengthened, 
and  our  ecclesiastical  affairs  be  better  administered  then  these 
bishops  must  have  authority  and  power  to  enforce  rules,  regu- 
lations and  resolutions,  and  in  some  way  impose  penalties  for 
their  violation  or  neglect.  Without  power,  the  office  is  sim- 
ply ornamental ;  and  the  power  needed  cannot  be  conferred  by 
resolutions  or  amendments  to  synodical  constitutions.  The 
power  possessed  by  bishops  in  Sweden,  or  by  superintendents 
in  Germany,  comes  from  the  connection  of  Church  and  State 
in  those  countries.  They  are  officers  of  the  State  as  well  as 
of  the  Church,  and  the  power  of  the  State  is  at  their  command. 
It  is  not  the  Church  polity  but  the  State  power  that  makes  their 
administration  strong  and  efficient. 

It  is  true  there  are  Churches  under  Episcopal  government  in 
this  country,  in  which  the  power  of  Bishops  is  strong  without 
aid  from  the  civil  authority.  The  Roman  Catholic,  Protestant 
Episcopal,  and  Methodist  Episcopal  Churches  are  examples  of 
this ;  and  we  must  look  for  sources  of  power  for  their  bishops, 
outside  of  any  connection  between  Church  and  State — and  we 
find  three  other  such  sources.  The  first  may  be  called  the 
power  of  property.  The  Roman  Catholic  Bishops  have  almost 
unlimited  pov/er  over  their  congregations  from  the  fact  that 
the  title  to  the  properities  occupied  by  these  congregations  is 
vested  in  the  Bishop  and  is  under  his  control.     He  holds  the 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  241 

power  of  the  ke3'S  in  a  very  literal  sense  and  when  necessary 
can  order  the  church  doors  to  be  locked  until  his  regulations 
and  requirements  are  obeyed.  If  our  congregations  could  be 
induced  to  convey  the  title  to  their  church  properties  to  a  bish- 
op, he  would  have  all  authority  and  power  over  them  that  could 
be  desired — but  this  is  impracticable. 

Another  source  of  episcopal  power  is  the  power  of  pastoral 
appointment,  as  seen  in  the  polity  of  the  Methodjst  Episcopal 
Church.  If  our  pastors  can  be  persuaded  to  relinquish  all 
right  to  accept  calls  they  may  receive,  and  our  people  to  relin- 
quish all  right  to  elect  and  call  their  own  pastors,  and  both 
submit  to  the  decision  of  a  bishop,  so  that  all  pastoral  relations 
shall  be  a  matter  of  episcopal  appointment,  then  also  would 
they  put  in  his  hands  a  power  which  few  would  dare  to  despise. 
But  this  is  utterly  impracticable.  R.evolutions  do  not  'go  back- 
ward ;  and  neither  our  people  nor  pastors  would  give  place 
by  subjection  to  such  polity,  no,  not  for  an  hour. 

The  third  source  of  political  power  lies  in  the  doctrine  con- 
cerning the  rninistry.  If  our  people  can  be  induced  to  believe 
that  bishops  are  a  higher  order  of  ministers,  and  that  they  are 
clothed  with  divine  authority  in  exercising  their  office  as  rulers 
in  the  church,  and  that  they  alone  have  power  to  admit  persons 
into  the  church  by  confirmation,  or  into  the  ministry  by  ordina- 
iton — as  is  taught  and  believed  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
church,  then  the  office  is  invested  with  an  authority  which  can 
make  itself  felt.  This  also  is  impracticable,  because  our  church 
could  not  adopt  any  such  theory  without  contradicting  its 
creed  and  revolutionizing  its  history. 

But  if  it  were  practicable,  and  a  change  to  the  episcopal 
system  could  be  made,  it  is  very  questionable  whether  our 
polity  would  be  improved  and  a  stronger  church  government 
be  secured.  In  those  branches  of  the  Protestant  church  in 
which  the  office  of  bishop  is  retained,  it  is  very  evident  the  au- 
thority of  these  bishops  is  chiefly  strong  in  congregations  which 
are  feeble  and  need  aid  from  diocesan  funds,  but  often  lightly 
esteemed  by  those  which  are  influential  and  rich.  Wealthy 
congregations    select    their    own    pastors    and     instruct     the 


242  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GRNKKAT.    CONFERENCE. 

bishop  whom  he  shall  appoint — and  in  various  ways  demon- 
strate the  fact  that  in  this  country  the  will  of  the  people,  when 
stronge  enough  to  be  expressed,  is  the  supreme  power  in 
•Church  as  well  as  in  State. 

Where  the  Church  has  no  connection  with  nor  dependence 
on  the  State,  the  influence  of  those  occupying  official  positions 
is  largely  personal.  The  man  makes  the  office,  rather  than  the 
office  makes  the  man.  We  have  had  Presidents  of  Synods  who 
were  more  truly  bishops  without  the  title,  than  others  who 
bore  it.  If  by  his  learning,  wisdom,  and  personal  influence  he 
is  the  right  man  for  the  place,  his  authority  will  be  respected 
and  recognized — but  if  he  be  the  wrong  man  and  unqualified 
for  the  post — the  office  or  title  can  give  him  little  power.  On 
this  account  we  believe  the  establishment  of  bishops  among  us 
would  be  inexpedient,  even  if  it  were  not  impracticable.  As 
bishops  are  chosen  for  life,  unless  deposed  for  false  doctrine 
or  inconsistent  conduct,  an  incompetent  man  becomes  a  burden 
and  a  hindrance  from  which  the  church  can  get  no  relief  until 
he  dies.  Where  executive  officers  are  chosen  for  limited  terms, 
as  is  now  the  case  with  our  synodical  presidents,  there  is  but 
little  difficulty  in  getting  rid  of  incompetent  or  unworthy 
persons. 

In  this  connection  we  call  attention  to  the  remarkable  fact 
that  any  movement  or  sentiment  to  change  our  church  polity 
into  the  episcopal  system  has  never  emanated  from  our 
churches  in  this  country  which  are  of  Scandinavian  origin. 
Many  of  their  leaders  were  educated  and  brought  up  under 
that  system  of  church  government  in  their  native  land,  and  cer- 
tainly would  have  introduced  it  into  their  synods  if  any  ad- 
vantage would  have  been  thereby  gained.  Their  leaders  were 
not  long  in  discerning  that  the  polity  of  the  church  as  it  is 
in  Sweden  and  Norway,  was  not  the  polity  best  adapted  to  the 
establishment  and  growth  of  their  churches  in  a  land  where 
they  were  entirely  separate  from  any  support  by  the  State,  and 
they  wisely  decided  and  have  adhered  to  that  polity  which  pre- 
vails in  the  Lutheran  Churches  of  this  country. 

There  is  wisdom  in  having  Church  polity  correspond  with 
the  form  of  government  of  the  country  in  \vhich  the  church  is 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  243 

located.  An  episcopal  form  of  government  may  be  adapted 
to  Churches  in  a  monarchy, — but  a  more  popular  form  is  better 
in  a  republic.  No  form  of  government  is  of  divine  order,  but 
is  of  human  devising  and  therefore  imperfect.  And  the  greater 
our  liberty  certainly  the  greater  is  the  danger .  of  its  abuse. 
Our  republican  form  of  national  government  is  not  without 
its  weaknesses, — but  who  proposes  to  remedy  these  by  chang- 
ing our  government  into  a  monarchy  ?  So  the  remedy  for  any 
weakness  in  our  church  polity  is  not  in  a  radical  change  of  that 
polity, — but  in  doing  what  we  can  to  strengthen  and  improve 
it. 

This  brings  us  to  Problem  2.     Hoiv  may  our  present  polity         ^ 
be  improved  f 

Admitting  that  our  synodical-congregational  polity  has  its 
weaknesses  and  defects,  we  believe  they  are  not  so  much  the 
fault  of  the  system  as  results  arising  from  neglect  and  condi- 
tions which  may  be  removed  or  remedied. 

Because  our  polity  is  congregational,  i.  e.,  the  power  to  de- 
cide questions  lies  in  the  congregations,  does  not  mean  our 
polity  is  the  same  as  independency.  Our  Church  has  never  ; 
held  nor  taught  that  congregations  are  independent  of  each 
other,  but  that  those  holding  the  same  faith  constitute  one 
body  in  Christ  and  are  members  one  of  another.  The  affilia- 
tion and  confederation  of  congregations  into  synodical  bodies 
has  always  been  our  polity.  What  we  need  is  to  strengthen 
this  synodical  or  confederation  feature.  Not  that  congrega- 
tional rights  are  to  be  reduced,  but  synodical  authority  and 
power  should  be  maintained.  The  parallel  with  our  national 
government  illustrates  this.  The  sovereignty  of  the  States  is 
fully  recognized,  but  the  federal  power  has  been  more  and 
more  asserted.  The  power  lies  in  the  States,  but  is  exercised 
largely  through  their  representatives  in  the  national  govern- 
ment. So  we  recognize  the  sovereignity  of  congregations, — but 
it  is  in  the  union  and  combination  of  the  sovereignties  into 
ecclesiastical  bodies  that  their  powers  are  best  exercised.  No 
sovereignty  is  thereby  destroyed  or  transferred,  but  many  are 
combined  and  concentrated,  for  in  union  there  is  strength. 
Our  polity  is  all  right,  and  one  of  which  we  need  not  be  asham- 


244  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

ed.  It  has  its  root  in  the  poHty  of  the  primitive  church,  and 
is  the  best  adapted  to  our  situation  in  this  country.  Under  it  we 
have  grown  and  prospered  until  we  stand  third  in  membership 
among  the  Protestant  Churches  in  the  United  States. 

There  are  two  ways  in  which  our  poHty  may  be  strengthen- 
ed. The  first  is  by  educating  our  people  concerning  our  needs 
as  a  church,  and  the  active  interest  and  co-operation  in  the 
general  work  of  the  church,  which  our  church  polity  demands 
of  all  our  congregations. 

As  a  rule  our  congregations  are  loyal  and  not  rebellious  to 
synodical  authority.  They  understand  that  Synods  are  not 
hierarchical  but  representative  bodies,  in  which  every  parish 
has  its  voice  and  vote, — and  when  properly  and  intelligently 
informed  concerning  synodical  resolutions  and  requirements. 
they  realize  an  obligation  to  co-operate  in  their  fulfilment.  The 
proof  that  better  education  in  church  matters  would  remedy 
many  of  our  ills  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  those  congregations 
which  are  best  informed  are  the  most  ready  to  co-operate  in 
synodical  work.  This  educational  work  must  be  performed 
largely  by  the  pastors  in  their  preaching,  teaching  and  conver- 
sation, and  the  wider  distribution  and  circulation  of  church 
literature  in  the  congregations.  And  any  assistance  they  may 
need  can  be  given  by  the  officers  of  the  Synod  and  Conferences, 
or  by  special  committees  appointed  for  the  visitation  of  the 
churches,  equally  as  well,  and  often  better  than  by  the  rare 
visits  of  a  bishop  to  each  congregation. 

The  second  way  in  which  our  polity  can  be  strengthenel,  is 
by  making  it  respected.  No  few  problems  in  church  polity 
would  be  solved  if  it  was  an  established  practice  for  Synod  to 
call  pastors  to  account  for  acts  of  disobedience  or  neglect. 
Synods  are  not  advisory  bodies  to  pastors  who  belong  to  them. 
Our  Church  has  never  had  any  such  polity.  Every  pastor 
signs  the  constitution  and  rules  of  the  Synod,  and  is  amenable 
to  it.  He  is  under  legal  as  well  as  religious  obligations  to  com- 
ply with  its  resolutions  and  plans.  The  failure  of  Synods  to 
bring  delinquent  members  to  account,  brings  the  Synod  itself 
into  contempt,  and  has  made  our  church  polity  so  often  a* 
broken  reed. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  245 

The  problem  how  our  church  poUty  may  be  improved  finds 
its  best  sokition  tlierefore  in  the  two  words,  education  and  dis- 
cipHne ;  education  of  our  people  so  that  they  may  thoroughly 
understand  and  become  interested  in  the  work  of  the  Church, — 
and  the  exercise  of  proper  discipline  upon  pastors  who  are  un- 
faithful or  disobedient.  Pastors  must  get  rid  of  the  impression 
that  Synods  are  only  advisory  bodies  to  them,  and  that  our 
church  polity  provides  that  nothing  can  be  enforced.  Much 
of  our  polity  has  been  weak  either  because  it  has  been  misun- 
derstood, or  its  power  unemployed.  What  we  need  is  not  revo- 
lution,— but  appreciation  and  employment  of  what  we  already 
possess. 

But  this  remedy  will  require  time.  In  ecclesiastical  matters, 
things  which  are  weak  cannot  become  strong  in  a  day.  Edu- 
cational work  is  necessarily  slow,  and  we  must  be  patient  in 
looking  for  results.  But  we  must  not  lose  faith  in  the  process 
nor  in  its  sufficiency,  nor  lose  time  in  beginnin-g-  the  process. 
The  best  government  is  that  which  is  educational.  It  seeks 
not  only  the  compliance  but  the  consent  of  the  governed.  It 
aims  to  produce  in  the  people  "a  willing  mind."  It  is  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  Church,  not  under  the  hierearchy  of  the  Old 
Testament  ,  but  under  the  liberty  of  the  New.  It  is  the  polity 
of  the  Church's  manhood,  "till  we  all  come  in  the  unity  of  the 
faith  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God.  unto  a  perfect 
man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ." 


REMARKS. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Ruthrauff  said : — 

Whether  we  call  the  presiding  officers  in  our  synods  Bishops 
or  Presidents,  is  of  little  importance,  yet  we  have  some  weak 
points  in  our  Church  polity  which  we  should  endeavor  to  over- 
come. We  need  better  supervision  over  our  district  Synods, 
many  difficulties  might  be  avoided,  or  settled,  many  weak 
churches  saved,  and  many  new  points  occupied,  by  better  su- 
pervision. We  are  losing  constantly  for  the  want  of  such 
supervision,  many  methods  have  been  tried  to  over-come  this 
weakness,  but  none  of  them  wholly  satisfactory. 


246  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE, 

Synodical  missionaries  have  been  tried  but  this  has  not  been 
wholly  satisfactory ;  for  the  reason  that  the  best  men 
will  not  accept  the  position  under  present  conditions 
and  depend  on  the  uncertain  support  usually  offered 
for  such  services.  Besides  they  do  not  command  the  authority 
that  the  president  of  Synod  does.  Then  the  churches  are 
reluctant  to  have  them  come  to  their  field  because  they  feel  un- 
willing to  make  extra  contributions  for  his  support. 

Pastors  are  too  busy  to  make  efficient  presidents  of  our 
synods,  and  the  work  is  often  neglected,  most  of  our  synods 
change  presidents  every  year  or  two,  and  no  man  becomes  fully 
qualified  for  his  work  until  he  must  lay  it  down  and  a  new  and 
untried  man  is  placed  in  office.  If  we  required  our  presidents 
to  resign  their  pastoral  work,  the  most  capable  men  would  not 
accept  the  position  made  under  present  conditions.  The  term 
of  office  is  too  short  and  the  support  of  the  position  too  un- 
certain. I  believe  these  difficulties  could  be  largely  overcome 
if  the  Synod  would  endow  the  president's  office,  and  own  a 
suitable  parsonage ;  and  then  make  the  position  permanent, 
like  that  of  the  pastorate ;  or  at  least  extend  the  time  of  service 
to  three  or  five  years ;  and  then  subject  to  re-election.  This 
would  enable  the  Synod  to  secure  the  services  of  the  very  best 
men.  They  would  be  independent  so  far  as  support  is  con- 
cerned. Their  entire  time  and  strength  could  be  concentrated 
upon  the  work.  When  congregations  become  vacant,  the  presi- 
dent could  supply  them  occassionally,  administer  the  commun- 
ion, and  advise  them,  without  being  open  to  the  charge,  that 
he  was  seeking  a  place  for  himself,  for  he  would  have  no 
temptation  to  do  so.  He  would  have  time  to  look  up  new  mis- 
sion points,  organize  congregations,  and  serve  them  until  suit- 
able pastors  could  be  secured.  When  weak  churches  become 
vacant,  or  have  difficulties,  he  would  not  only  feel  an  obliga- 
tion to  assist  them,  but  he  would  have  the  time  to  do  it,  and 
do  it  well  without  neglecting  other  work,  I  would  like  to  see 
the  plan  tested  in  some  of  our  Synods. 


The  Rev.  A.  Aaron  said : — 

Our  conservative  church  covers  a  large  territory  taking  a 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  247 

broad  standpoint  among  different  nations,  languages  and  po- 
litical forms.  Variety  of  official  appellation,  whether  bishop, 
superintendent  or  president  never  confuses  us.  Dr.  Fry's  able 
paper  spoke  of  the  visit  by  a  Swedish  bishop.  His  mission 
and  so  general  a  reception  by  us  here  manifested  the  tender 
relation  and  unity  of  our  Church.  We  regard  the  apostolical 
succession,  the  advantages  of  a  properly  qualified  man  at  the 
head,  and  the  last  courteous  bishop's  visit,  but  the  Augustana 
Synod  is  not  ready  for  a  bishop,  nor  should  a  district  synod 
precede  the  general  body.  It  is  however  noteworthy  that  our 
first  bishop-visit  was  Swedish.  The  first  Lutheran  pastor  in 
America  was  a  Swede,  Swedish  was  the  first  congregation.  A 
Swede  officiated  at  the  first  Lutheran  ordination,  and  we  meet 
today  on  the  historical  ground  near  the  sacred  walls  built  by 
the  old  Lutherans  of  the  North.  I  regret  the  small  representa- 
tion from  the  Augustana  Synod  at  this  convention,  which  may 
be  corrected  later  on  when  we  meet  farther  west. 

We  do  not  deny  the  weakness  in  our  Church  polity  and  the 
universal  lack  of  mission  zeal.  Our  strength  lies  in  the  pure 
doctrine,  perfect  to  salvation.  Let  us  emphasize  both  and  we 
shall  see  an  awakening  spirit  of  preserving  what  we  already 
have  and  also  obedience  to  the  home  and  foreign  mission  cause. 


The  Rev.  Dr.  Bauslin  said : — 

One  point  in  the  admirable  presentation  of  this  subject  by 
Dr.  Fry,  it  seems  to  us,  which  can  stand  the  emphasis  of  a  re- 
assertion  is  what  he  has  said  regarding  the  ordinary  function 
of  a  Synod  for  such  as  have  voluntarily  entered  into  its  fel- 
lowship. A  Synod  is  made  up  of  congregations,  ministers  and 
the  properly  selected  lay  representatives  of  congregations 
united .  together  and  working  together  under  a  common  consti- 
tution, for  such  as  have  thus  voluntarily  entered  into  an  eccles- 
iastical alliance,  it  seems  to  us  that  the  conclusions  reach  by  the 
There  is  no  police  or  other  external  restraint  in  the  nTatter  and 
for  such  as  have  thus  voluntarily  entered  into  an  ecclesiasti- 
cal alliance,  it  seems  to  us  that  the  conclusions  reached  by  the 
Synod  thus  constituted  ought  in  all  good  conscience,  to  be 
accepted. 


248  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

We  must  also  express  our  gratification  at  Dr.  Fry's  position 
on  the  subject  of  the  episcopate,  holding  fast  to  their  views  of 
the  universal  priesthood  and  the  rton-sacerdotal  character  of 
the  Ministry.  Lutherans  are  very  suspicious  of  anything  that 
might  even  be  remotely  construed  as  looking  toward  any- 
thing like  orders  in  its  ministry. 


The  Rev.  Dr.  Kunzman  said : — 

This  question  lies  in  the  realm  of  the  adiophora.  Church 
government,  whether  it  be  Episcopal,  Presbyterian  or  Congre- 
gational or  any  modification  of  these,  has  in  and  of  itself  no 
moral  attribute.  We  may  organize  according  to  either  form, 
and  yet  not  forfeit  the  good  will  of  our  Heavenly  Father. 

The  question  is  one  of  expediency.  Organizations  are  ef- 
fective, or  non-effective,  strong  or  weak,  adequate  or  inade- 
quate as  they  are  adapted  or  not  adapted  to  accomplish  the 
work  which  God  has  assigned  to  His  Church.  Men  may  pervert 
an  organization,  but  the  evil  lies  in  the  men  and  not  in  the  organ- 
ization. And  as  all  organizations  are  managed  by  men,  they 
are  all  equally  in  danger  from  this  source. 

Not  the  form  but  the  principles  of  the  government  de- 
termine and  give  to  it  a  moral  character.  Principle  is  the  de- 
termining factor,  the  soul  of  things.  The  priesthood  of  be- 
lievers or  the  heirarchy  of  the  clergy,  democracy  or  aristocracy 
may  have  the  same  form  but  not  the  same  nature  of  govern- 
ment. The  principle  of  the  one  is  opposed  to  the  principle  of 
the  other,  and  whilst  we  always  have  to  deal  and  reckon  with 
the  human  element,  a  Lutheran  organization  cannot  proper- 
ly become  oppressive,  no  matter  what  its  form.  Even  Melanch- 
thon  in  his  subscription  to  the  Smalcald  Article  declared  that 
rightly  wielded  they  would  acknowledge  the  authority  of  the 
pope  as  of  human  and  not  divine,  right. 

We  must  distinguish  between  the  divine  and  human  ele- 
ments in  the  Church.  The  Word  and  Sacraments  are  the  gift 
of  God.  They  are  divine  and  hence  unchangeable.  Govern- 
ment, etc..  are  the  human  element  to  carry  the  heavenly  treasure 
to  the  children  of  men.  These  need  not  and  cannot  be  every- 
where alike,  but  must  be  taken  out  of  and  adapted  to  the  neces- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  249 

sities  of  every  age.     The  demands  of  the  work  determine  the 
form  and  extent  of  the  organization. 

When  the  ministerium  of  Pennsylvania  was  organized  the 
Lutheran  membership  of  America  was  small.  Its  jurisdic- 
tion was  to  extend  to  the  Lutherans  in  Pennsylvania  and  ad- 
jacent states.  Synod  after  Synod  was  formed  and  only  in  1821 
was  there  an  attempt  made  to  unite  all  the  Lutherans  in 
America  in  one  organization.  Little  stress  had  been  laid  on 
organization  and  little  attention  was  paid  to  it,  and  the  work 
was  carried  on  as  it  is  even  to  this  day  by  detached  and  antag- 
onistic organizations.  This  entails  much  loss.  We  are  the 
most  united  and  the  most  divided  Church  in  America.  Had 
the  organization  been  extended  or  the  work  enlarged,  and, 
whilst  not  neglecting  SQund  doctrine,  had  the  work  of  missions 
been  uppermost,  at  least  a  modus  vivendi  would  have  been 
found  among  and  with  all  our  bodies. 

Organizations  must  extend  and  enlarge  as  the  work  en- 
larges. The  size  and  extent  of  the  work  determines  the  size 
and  extent  of  the  organization.  If  our  work  be  confined  to  a 
certain  county  and  State,  and  we  have  no  mission  beyond  their 
borders,  then  a  county  or  State  organization  is  sufficient.  But 
if  our  work  extends  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  and  is  to 
reach  the  nation,  the  organization  must  have  as  its  field  the  na- 
tion and  must  be  national.  If  our  people  are  found  scattered 
in  every  State  and  Territory,  we  cannot  do  justice  to  them  un- 
less our  organization  extends  and  operates  where  they  are 
found.  A  large  work  demands  a  comparatively  large  organi- 
zation. If  we  are  bound  together  into  a  general  body,  discus- 
sion of  Church  doctrine  and  polity  do  not  exhaust  the  round 
of  our  duties,  and  unless  we  are  organized  for  work,  the  work 
of  ministration,  we  do  not  fulfill  our  mission  as  an  organiza- 
tion. Organization  is  both  centralization  and  distribution,  and 
a  distribution  of  the  work  not  according  to  whim  and  caprice 
but  according  to  a  thought-out  and  determined  plan. 

Had  our  Lutheran  Church  been  as  strong  on  its  human 
as  on  its  divine  side,  no  one  can  doubt  but. that  it  would  be 
stronger  both  in  Europe  and  America.  We  pride  ourselves, 
and  rightly,  in  the  possession  of  the  pure  and  unadulterated 


250  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

word  and  sacraments.  These  are  the  means  of  grace,  the 
treasures  of  heaven  for  the  salvation  of  a  perishing  world. 
But  we  must  never  forget  that  God  has  committed  these  treas- 
ures to  our  Church,  not  that  we  may  wrap  them  in  a  napkin 
and  lay  them  away,  but  that  we  may  bear  them  to  the  lost. 
We  can  not  bear  them  without  organization.  We  cannot  bear 
successfully  without  an  effective  and  exclusive  organization. 
Let  the  Church  feel  its  national  duty  and  it  will  have  a  national 
•organization.  Luther  stood  for  truth  and  individual  liberty. 
Loyola  stood  for  error  and  organization.  As  a  soldier  he  had 
learned  the  value  and  power  of  organization.  The  Church 
historian  Kurtz  tells  us  that  nine  tenths  of  the  German  people 
stood  ready  and  had  embraced  the  principles  of  the  Reforma- 
'  tion.  It  was  there  that  Loyola  organiz&d  the  Jesuits  and  thous- 
ands were  enslaved  whom  Luther  had  freed.  God  works 
through  means.  Had  our  Church  met  the  Jesuits  at  every 
point,  had  we  been  organized  and  carried  the  torch  of  truth 
as  aggressively  as  they  scattered  error,  who  could  have  been 
doubtful  as  to  the  issue.  Yes,  God  works  through  earthly  in- 
strumentalities, and  organization  is  one  of  them,  and  where 
the  earthen  vessels  do  not  bear  the  heavenly  treasures,  the 
saving  word  never  comes.  Again  we  say  that  we  have  been 
weak  on  the  human  side  and  it  is  high  time  that  we  repair  our 
weakness. 


The  Rev.  Dr.  Jacobs  spoke  with  reference  to  two  points  that 
had  been  advanced  in  the  discussion,  viz.,  the  importance  of 
centralization  of  Church  power,  and  the  criticism  of  Lutheran 
Church  polity.  As  he  is  unable  to  recall  his  exact  statements, 
he  offers  the  following  more  matured  prepared  summary : 

Let  us  proceed  slowly  in  advocating  centralization  The  or- 
ganizations of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  which  has  been  ex- 
tolled as  a  model  for  the  organization  of  our  Church  in  Amer- 
ica, belongs  to  an  entirely  different  sphere.  It  is  a  secular  or- 
ganization for  secular  ends,  using  solely  secular  means  and 
machinery,  determined  by  secular  motives  and  having  as  its 
sole  end  purely  material  returns.  The  sphere  of  the  Church  is 
that  of  the  kingdom  of  God.     Its  charter  has  been  issued  by 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  251 

Him  who  said :  "My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world."  Wherever 
it  has  to  assume  an  organized  form,  its  external  means  are  only 
the  Word  and  the  Sacraments.  Far  more  potent  than  the  force 
of  a  complicated  and  central  organization  is  that  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  living  and  active,  breathing  and  burning  wherever  the 
word  is  brought  to  men's  hearts.  Let  us  remember  that  we 
confess :  "I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  The  strength  of  the 
Church,  therefore,  is  not  in  centralization,  but  in  decentraliza- 
tion. Its  aim  is  not  to  make  men  feel  that  each  has  his  exact 
place  in  some  vast  earthly  machine  which  is  to  do  his  work  for 
him,  but  to  awaken  and  develop  the  sense  of  individual  respon- 
sibility. The  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  to  be  brought 
through  the  truth  to  the  hearts  of  individuals.  Our  various 
Church  enterprises  should  gain  support  not  by  the  appliances 
of  ecclesiastical  legislation,  and  the  preaching  of  submission 
to  centralized  authority,  but  by  enlisting  the  sympathy  of  the 
people.  The  tendency  of  even  the  best  guarded  schemes  of 
centralization  is  to  limit  the  number  of  those  brought  into 
closest  contact  with  the  details  of  the  work,  and  who  feel  the 
burden  of  its  responsibilities.  There  is  a  place  where  the  rule 
holds:    Divide  ef  inipcra. 

We  have  heard  so  often  the  complaint  that  while  the  Luth- 
eran Church  has  the  very  purest  doctrine,  it  has  the  most  miser- 
able Church  polity,  that  we  must  apologize  for  some  feeling 
in  meeting  this  charge.  As  we  all  know,  Lutheranism  stands 
for  no  particular  form  of  Church  organization,  and  as  soon  as 
it  attempts  to  depart  frpm  this  principle,  it  ceases  to  be  Luth- 
eranism. Our  unity  and  our  strength  lie  solely  in  our  Confes- 
sions. This  gives  Lutheranism  a  flexibility  and  plasticity  and 
power  of  adjustment  with  respect  to  external  relations  that 
would  otherwise  be  impossible.  Church  constitutions  belong  to 
the  category  of  the  "human  traditions,  rites  and  ceremonies," 
that  Article  VH  of  the  Augsburg  Confession  declares  need  not 
"be  everywhere  alike."  While,  therefore,  with  all  our  hearts  we 
favor  all  schemes  for  harmonious  co-operation,  and  do  not 
deny  that  what  are  known  as  "business  methods"  should  be  re- 
sorted to  in  the  administration  of  the  various  institutions  and 
benevolent  agencies  of  the  Church,  nevertheless  in  all   such 


252  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

arrangements  let  us  remember  that  the  principle  of  Christian 
Liberty  must  be  maintained,  and  that  Church  authority  be  not 
invoked  for  what  our  Confessions  declare  is  entirely  outside 
of  its  scope. 

The  most  compact  church  organization,  consistent  with  the 
principles  laid  down  in  the  Augsburg  Confession,  presupposes 
a  certain  amount  of  homogeneity  of  the  people  united.  There 
must  be  a  firm  historical  basis  and  several  generations  of  com- 
mon work  under  similar  relations  by  the  majority  of  its  con- 
stituents, in  order  that  it  may  be  efifected.  The  wider  the 
scheme  of  Church  organization,  the  greater  the  amount  of  lib- 
erty that  must  be  left  within  the  various  circles  of  its  constitu- 
ents with  respect  to  the  details  of  their  own  work.  The 
strength  of  organization  must  often  be  sacrificed  in  its  efforts 
at  comprehensiveness.  The  Lutheran  Church  can  never  be 
organized  after  the  model  of  the  communions  that  lay  all  the 
stress  on  organization,  the  Roman  Catholic,  the  Presbyterian, 
the  Protestant  Episcopal,  the  Methodist,  etc. 


THE  DEFAMERS  OF  LUTHER. 
By  the  Rev.  J.  J.  Yonng,  D.  D. 

Among  earth's  great  men  few  have  received  such  attention, 
from  both  friend  and  foe,  as  Martin  Luther.  That  there  should 
be  great  diversity  in  the  description  of  such  a  character  is  evi- 
dent. We  cannot,  for  instance,  expect  the  devout  Roman  Cath- 
olic to  look  upon  him  and  his  labors  in  thr  sanif  light  as  the 
devout  Greek  Catholic,  or  the  devout  Protestant.  Whilst  all  are 
Christains  the  relation  they  sustain  to  the  great  Reformer  must 
nevertheless  affect  their  views  concerning  him.  There  must 
also  be  some  allowance  ifiade  for  the  age  in  which  the  Reformer 
lived.  It  is  evident  that  the  sweet  spirit  of  Him,  who  greeted 
his  betrayer  as,  "Friend."  had  not  yet  permeated  His  followers 
as  today.  More  stress  was  then  laid  upon  the  law  of  retalia- 
tion than  on  the  Gospel  of  love.  To  knock  out  an  eye  for  an 
eye,  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth  was  also  more  in  harmony  with 
the  old  Adam,  than  to  love  an  enemy  or  pray  for  a  persecutor. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  253 

There  seems  to  have  been  a  general  behef  in  those  days  that 
every  thing  was  lawful  in  an  ecclesiastical  as  well  as  in  a 
national  warfare.  Party  bias  was  then  almost  universally  ac- 
cepted as  a  guaranty  for  truth.  The  time  has,  however,  come 
v/hen  the  followers  of  Him,  who  is  the  truth,  should  seek,  set 
forth  and  defend  the  truth  regardless  of  results. 

The  subject  assigned  us  implies  that  Luther  has  been  de- 
famed. Since  there  are  various  ways  in  which  this  can  be 
done,  and  since  our  limited  time  compels  us  to  confine  our- 
selves to  one  line  of  treatment,  we  will,  therefore,  consider 
some  allegations  relating  to  his  translation  of  the  Bible  and  his 
death. 

Luther's  translation  of  the  bible 

May  be  considered  as  his  life  work;  the  means  through 
which  he  brought  about  the  great  Reformation.  It  is  doubtless 
on  this  account  that  his  opponents  have  endeavored  to  destroy 
its  influence  and  power.  They  have  declared  his  translation 
a  corrupt  book  and  branded  him  as  a  corrupter  of  the  Bible. 
In  doing  so  they  at  the  same  time,  assailed  the  very  founda- 
tion of  Protestantism.  If  this  allegation  be  true  then  our  in- 
fallible rule  of  faith  and  practice  is  gone ;  our  doctrines  are 
based  upon  a  corrupt  book,  and  Luther  is  undeserving  of  our 
confidence.  This  is  a  most  serious  matter  demanding  the  most 
careful  investigation. 

Anderdon,  in  his  book,  "Luther,"  written  to  counteract,  the 
influence  of  the  400th  anniversary  of  Luther's  birth  in  England, 
says,  (p.  51,)  :  "Perhaps  there  is  hardly  an  error  more  widely 
spread,  or  one  more  groundless,  than  that  Protestantism  (not 
stooping  to  define  the  -shadowy  term)  is  built  on  the  Bible.'' 
By  this  the  writer  doubtless  means  that  Protestantism,  what- 
ever that  ma}'  be  or  mean,  is  founded  not  on  the  Sacred  Scrip- 
tures, but  on  a  corrupt  translation  of  the  same.  Again,  the 
same  writer  says  (p.  55  and  56)  :  "But  is  he  (Luther)  infalli- 
ble in  deciding  that  St.  James'  Epistle,  and  the  Apocalypse 
with  other  books  are  not  Scripture?"  Again  (p.  56)  :  "We 
have  seen  how  Luther  took  away  from  the  Word  of  God.  Let 
us  now  see  how  he  added  to  it."  The  writer  does  not  state 
what  is  implied  in  the  other  books.     He  may  here  refer  to 


254  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

the  Antilegomena,  to  which  the  Epistle  of  James  and  Apo- 
calypse belong,  or  to  the  Apocrypha  of  the  O.  F.,  or  to  both. 

As  far  as  the  Apocrypha  of  the  O.  F.  is  concerned  every 
thorough  student  of  the  Bible  knows,  or  ought  to  know,  that 
Luther  is  neither  the  first,  nor  the  only  student  of  the  Sacred 
Scriptures,  who  denied  their  canonicity.  These  books,  belong- 
ing to  the  septuagent  and  not  to  the  Hebrew  canon,  did  not  re- 
ceive the  same  recognition,  nor  have  the  same  authority  as  the 
books  composing  the  Hebrew  canon.  That  these  books  of  ob- 
scure origin  received  a  decided  opposition  by  those  who 
thoroughly  investigated  the  Hebrew  canon,  is  evident.  Among 
these  investigators  we  find  even  Jerome,  whose  piety,  honesty 
and  scholarship  no  one  doubts.  It  is  true,  however,  that 
whilst  Jerome  rejected  the  Apocrypha  Augustine  received  the 
same.  Augustine  doubtless  did  so  because  he  considered  thr 
Septuagint,  in  which  those  books  were  found,  as  inspired 
which  Jerome  did  not  (City  of  God,  B.  XVHI,  C.  43).  Yet,  in 
spite  of  Augustine's  great  influence,  we  find  thoughout  the 
Middle  ages  biblical  scholars  maintaining  Jerome's  position. 
As  far  as  the  Church  of  Rome  is  concerned  the  question  wheth- 
er these  books  were  to  be  placed  on  equal  footing  with  the  He- 
brew canon,  was  not  finally  settled  till  the  IV  session  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,  (April  8,  1546 — June  17,  1556).  Since 
Luther  died  before  that  final  settlement  took  place  how  can 
he  be  accused  of  taking  them  from  the  Bible?  Luther  consid- 
ered the  Apocrypha  as  good  and  useful  to  read.  Hence  he 
translated  and  published  the  same  in  his  German  Bible.  He 
also  referred  to  them  in  his  sermons,  based  sermons  on  texta 
taken  from  them,  and  treated  them  as.  they  had  been  by  god- 
fearing and  scholarly  men  before  his  time. , 

As  far  as  St.  James'  Epistle  and  the  Apocalypse  are  con- 
cerned a  diligent  study  of  the  Fathers  will  show  that  they  be- 
longed to  the  books  known  as  Antilegomena.  The  New  Testa- 
ment books  known  by  that  name  were  the  Second  Epistle  of 
Peter,  the  Epistles  of  James,  Jude,  Second  and  Third  of  John, 
Hebrews  and  the  Apocalypse.  They  were  called  Antilegomena, 
or  disputed  books,  to  distinguish  them  from  the  Homologou- 
mena,  or  universally  acknowledged  books  of  the  New  Testa- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  .       255 

ment.  A  careful  study  of  the  church  history  of  Eusebius  will 
give  the  necessary  information  upon  this  subject.  Though  the 
ancient  controversy  gradually  subsided  and  the  Antilegomena 
were  put  on  par  with  the  Homologoumena,  it  was  nevetheless 
revived  again  about  the  time  of  the  Reformation ;  especially  by 
Erasmus  and  Cardinal  Cajetan.  Luther  did,  however,  not  ex- 
clude these  books  from  the  New  Testament  canon.  As  far 
as  the  Epistle  of  James  is  concerned,  he  considered  it  as  in- 
ferior to  the  Gospel  of  John,  Paul's  Epistles  to  the  Romans, 
Galatians,  Ephesians  and  the  First  Epistle  of  Peter.  Compared 
with  these  it  was  eine  rechte  stroherne  Epistel.  In  his  in- 
troducton  to  the  Epistle  of  James  and  Jude  he  even  praises  the 
Epistle  of  James  though  it  had  been  rejected  by  the  ancients. 
He  says : — "Diese  Epistel  St.  Jakobi,  obwohl,  sie  von  den  Alten 
verworfen  ist,  lobe  ich,  und  halte  sie  voch  fuer  gut."  (Luth. 
S.  Schrif.  V.  XIV,  p.  91, St.  Louis  Ed.)  Hence  Luther  did 
not  reject  the  Antilegomena. 

As  far  as  the  allegation  of  adding  to  the  word  of  God  is  con- 
cerned, Anderdon  cites  on  p.  56  the  following  instances  quoted 
from  Rohrbacher :  "As  to  adding  to  the  Bible  in  his  transla- 
tion, here  is  a  noted  example.  St.  Paul  says,  in  his  Epistle  to 
the  Romans,  C.  III.,v  28:  'We  account  a  man  to  be  justified 
by  faith  without  the  works  of  the  law.'  Luther  makes  him  say: 
■'We  account  a  man  to  be  justified  by  faith  only,  without  the 
works  of  the  law  ;'  adding  the  word  only,  which  is  found  neither 
in  the  Greek  nor  the  Latin."  In  regard  to  this  addition  of  the 
word  "only,"  Luther  does  not  stand  alone  among  the  transla- 
tors of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  who  have  realized  that  the  con- 
text completely  justifies  the  same.  We  are  told  that  the  trans- 
lators of  the  Geneva  Italian  Bible  of  1476,  and  of  the  Nuern- 
berg German  Bible  of  1483,  have  put  it  in  also.  (Lutheran 
Com.  on  Rom.  p.  75).  Why  should  it  be  more  criminal  for 
Luther  to  put  in  the  word  "only"  than  for  the  translators  who 
preceded  him  ?  If  Luther  be  guilty  of  "arrogance  and  blas- 
phemy for  putting  into  that  -^erse  the  word  "only"  then  must 
the  Geneva  and  Nuernberg  translators  be  guilty  too ;  but  if 
they  be  not  guilty  of  "arrogance  and  blasphemy,"  neither  can 
he,  no  matter  whether  his  name  be  Luther  or  not. 


256        -  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

Luther  is  further  accused  of  rejecting  the  solemnly  autho- 
rized Vulgate  and  of  following  a  misinterpreted  Hebrew  and 
a  corrected  Greek  Text.  Anderdon  says,  (p.  52,)  "The  testi- 
mony of  a  careful  writer  is  as  follows :  It  was  at  this  same 
time  that  he  put  forth  a  translation  of  the  Bible,  in  which,  with- 
out resting  on  the  Vulgate,  which  had  been  accepted  and  sol- 
emnly authorized  by  the  church,  he  sometimes  follows  a  misin- 
terpreted Hebrew,  sometimes  a  corrupt  Greek,  omitting  or 
adding,  as  might  prejudice  or  promote  his  doctrines,  especially 
in  the  'New  Testament."  This  is  according  to  Anderdon's 
understanding,  "the  testimony  of  a  careful  writer."  and  this 
careful  writer  accuses  Luther  of  rejecting  the  Vulgate,  whirh 
he  says  "had  been  accepted  and  solemnly  authorized  by  the 
church"  at  the  time  Luther  began  his  translation  of  the  Bible. 
Since  the  Vulgate  was  not  accepted  and  solemnly  authorized  by 
the  Church  of  Rome  till  the  IV  Sess.  of  the  Council  of  Trent, 
which  was  after  Luther's  death,  the  testimony  of  this  careful 
writer  is  absolutely  false. 

In  order  to  save  this  careful  writer  and  himself  from  the 
just  condemnation  for  quoting  and  describing  him  as  a  "care- 
ful" writer,  Anderdon  puts  in  the  following  footnote:  "It 
would  be  more  accurate  to  say,  approved  by  the  universal  use 
of  the  West.  The  first  formal  decree  in  favor  of  the  Vulgate 
was  promulgated  by  the  Sacred  Council  of  Trent,  eleven  years 
after  Luther's  translation  was  finished."  Since  Anderdon 
seems  to  have  known  better  why  does  he  in  his  text  quote  such 
testimony,  and  then  describe  the  man  as  "a  careful  writer." 
This  looks  suspicious,  to  say  the  least.  Luther's  translation 
was  completed  in  1534,  the  Vulgate  was  accepted  and  solemnly 
authorized  at  the  IV  Sess.  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  which  ses- 
sion lasted  from  April  8,  1546 — June  17,1556.  The  accepted 
and  solemnly  au%orized  Vulgate  had  to  be  prepared,  however, 
after  it  had  been  accepted  and  authorized.  Hence  it  did  not 
appear,  according  to  Real  Ency.  fuer  Prot.  Thoel,  Vol.  8,p.456, 
till  1590.  According  to  the  Standard  Dictionary  "the  Edition 
of  Pope  Clement  VIII,  of  1592-93  is  the  source  of  the  modern 
Douay  version,  and  the  accepted  standard  of  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic church."     Since  the  solemnly  authorized  Vulgate  did  not  ap- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  257 

pear  till  over  fifty  years  after  the  publication  of  Luther's  trans- 
lation, and  over  forty  years  after  his  death,  how  can  Luther  be 
accused  of  rejecting  the  "accepted  and  solemnly  authorized 
Vulgate?"  or  how  can  the  "accepted  and  solemnly  authorized 
Vulgate"  be  represented  as  approved  by  the  universal  use  of 
the  West,  when  it  took  over  forty  years  after  it  had  been  au- 
thorized to  prepare  it  ? 

But  this  "careful  writer  makes  another  statement,  which  dare 
not  be  overlooked,  since  his  first  contains  such  a  remarkable 
revelation.  In  this  he  charges  Luther  with  following  "some 
times  a  misinterpreted  Hebrew,"  and  "sometimes  a  corrected 
Greek,"  omitting  and  adding  at  pleasure.  Is  this  really  so? 
Allow  me  here  to  introduce  a  man  by  the  name  of  Wedewer, 
belonging  to  the  same  household  of  faith  as  Anderdon  and  his 
"careful  writer,"  and  at  the  time  he  wrote  engaged  in  the  same 
work  in  Germany  in  which  Anderdon  was  in  England,  when 
he  wrote  his  "Luther,"  Wedewer,  in  order  to  show  why  Luth- 
er's translation  of  the  Bible,  which  had  been  so  highly  praised 
during  the  Luther  celebration  in  Germany,  was  such  an  excel- 
lent and  perfect  translation,  accuses  Luther  of  having  used  an 
old  Catholic  translation  to  such  an  extent  that  his  work  was 
really  no  translation,  but  only  a  revision  of  a  former  trans- 
lation. He  says: — "Luther  hat  die  alte  Katolische  Ueberset- 
zung  Stark  benutzt  resp.  im  Neuen  Testament  wesentlich 
beibehalten  und  nur  revidirt  ungeschurt  den  Katolischen 
Deutschen  Text  und  benutzte  ihn  tuechtig  Wort  zu  sagen. 
(Wedewer,  Johannes  Dietenberger,  Freiburg,  1888,  S.  I74f) 
See  Neue  Kirchliche  Zeitschrift  Vol.  I,,  p.  136. 
It  is  really  amazmg  how  careful  some  of  these  writers  belong- 
ing to  Luther's  opponents  are ;  how  they  contradict  each  other 
and  how  they  are  quoted  by  their  own  men  without  the  least 
doubt  that  their  statements  may  after  all  be  groundless,  resting 
upon  nothing  but  sand  instead  of  the  supposed  rock. 

Since  Luther's  opponents  use  such  questionable  tactics  to- 
day, what  must  have  been  their  tactics  during  the  Reforma- 
tion ?  Is  it  any  wonder  that  at  times  he  would  rain  upon  them 
the  most  heavy  blows,  and  then  again  poke  all  sorts  of  fun  at 


^258  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GF.NI.-R.\r,    riVN'FERENCE. 

thetn  ?  None,  whatever,  they  have  no  one  to  blame  but  them- 
selves. In  their  effort  to  upset  his  life  work,  to  remove  the 
foundation  of  Protestantism,  they  have  carried  on  a  warfare, 
not  only  to  their  discredit  as  Christian  scholars,  but  also  to  the 
injury  of  the  cause  of  truth  and  to  the  advancement  of  the  king- 
dom of  Christ.  Luther  is,  however,  not  the  only  translator, 
who  has  been  called  by  his  fellow  Christians  a  corrupter  of 
the  Bible.  Jerome  was  treated  about  the  same  way  because 
he  endeavored  to  give  to  the  Church  a  copy  of  the  sacred 
Scriptures  based  upon  the  original.  In  his  apology  he  heplies 
to  his  calmuniators  in  the  following  words:  "Innocence  would 
be  dead  long  ago  if  wickedness  were  always  allied  to  power, 
and  calumny  could  prevail  in  all  that  it  seeks  to  accomplish." 
(The  Nicene  and  Post  N.  Path.  vol.  Ill  p.  515).  Though  he 
was  called  by  persons,  who  doubtless  considered  themselves 
scholars  and  true  followers  of  Christ,  a  falsarius,  sacril^gits 
and  corruptor  sanctarum  scripturarum,  and  was  accused  of 
translating  from  a  bad  Hebrew  manuscript,  yet  in  course  of 
time  this  uncalled  for  and  false  censure  not  only  passed  away, 
but  he  was  even  considered  to  have  been  guided  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  to  have  been  preserved  from  error.  (See  Real 
Ency.  Vol.  8  p,  447)  As  in  the  political  world  the  rebel  and 
outlaw  of  today  may  become  the  patriot  and  lawgiver  of  to- 
morrow, thus  in  the  religious  the  heretic  and  corrupter  of  the 
sacred  Scriptures  of  one  age  of  the  Church  may  become  the 
saint  and  divinely  inspired  translator  of  another.  We  must 
aiow  turn  however  to 

Luther's  death  and  burial. 
The  strange  rumors  circulated  immediately  after  Luther's 
(death  were  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  superstition  of  the  age 
and  the  expectation  of  his  enemies.  A  paper  setting  forth  his 
fearful  removal  was  circulated  in  Rome  a  year  before  he  died. 
Hence  it  would  have  been  altogether  out  of  harmony  with  said 
paper,  and  entirely  unnatural,  if  such  rumors  had  not  been 
spread  after  his  actual  departure.  According  to  a  letter  of 
Jonas,  March  9,  1546,  (Kolde,  Luther's  Selbstmord,  p.  20)  his 
enemies  circulated  a  rumor  that,  as  Luther's  remains  were  be- 
ing conveyed  from  Eisleben  to  Wittenberg,  they  arrived  on 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE,  259 

their  wa}^  at  Halle  with  the  empty  casket.  Of  course  every 
body  was  allowed  to  conjecture  how  the  body  might  have  dis- 
appeared. Paul  Majunke,  in  his  "Luther's  Lebendsande,"  p. 
15,  gives  his  readers  another  account  of  the  wonderful  funeral 
procession  from  Eisleben  to  Wittenberg.  This  account  is  not 
only  striking  and  picturesque,  but  may  also  be  designated  as 
a  savory  description.  According  to  this  report  a  numberless 
flock  of  ravens,  croaking  in  a  most  terrifying  manner,  accom- 
panied the  procession.  In  order  to  make  the  presence  of 
these  ravens  sure  we  have  found  two  accounts  for  their  appear- 
ance. According  to  one  account  they  were  not  really  ravens, 
but  evil  spirits,  the  former  occupants  of  Luther's  body,  who 
were  now,  at  the  command  of  their  chief,  accompanying  the 
remains  to  their  final  resting  place.  (Kolde.  L.  S.  p.  32).  Ac- 
cording to  another  account  these  black  ravens  were  drawn 
there  by  the  stench  that  proceeded  from  the  casket.  (Majunke 
L.  L.  p.  14).  This  stench  is  reported  to  have  been  so  offen- 
sive that  the  Professors  and  Doctors  of  Wittenberg  University 
were  unable  to  carry  the  casket  from  the  city  gave  to  the  castle 
church.  And  this  pestiferous  stench,  says  Majunke,  proceeded 
from  the  remains,  "trotzdem  sie  sich  in  einem  metallenem  Sarge 
befand  und  eisige  Kaelte  herschte."  (Majunke  L.  L.  p.  14.) 
Even  the  metalic  casket  and  the  bitter  cold  could  not  prevent 
the  same.  Hence  it  must  have  been  miraculous.  Of  course 
we  are  not  told  how  Luther's  remains  missing  already  at  Halle, 
re-entered  the  casket;  how  they  were  finally  brought  into 
the  castle  church  ;  how  the  vast  crowds  were  enabled  to  attend 
the  funeral  services;  how  the  city  and  surrounding  country 
were  miraculously  delivered  from  an  intensely  malignant  epi- 
demic, which  the  pestiferous  stench  would  naturally  produce. 
All  this  is  passed  over  in  silence. 

The  stupid  absurdity  and  profaneness  of  these  stories  illus- 
trate the  monstrous  superstition  of  that  age.  Even  Majunke, 
who  has  been  spreading  them  again  in  order  to  counteract  the 
Luther  celebration  in  Germany,  confesses  in  one  place  that 
he  has  little  faith  in  the  same.     His  words  are  as     follows: 

"Es  ist  mir  wirklich  gleichgiltig,  ob  vor  Luther's  Leiche 
hundert  oder  tausend  Trompeter  oder     Reiter     Hergegangen 


260  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

sind  nnd  audi  die  Geschichte  von  den  Raben  und  von  dem 
Gestank  lege  ich  Keinen  sonderlichen  Werth.  Und  hierin 
begegne  ich  wieder  Bozius  und  Bellarmin  welche  beide  ganz 
nebenbei  einmal  diese  Umstaend  erwaechnen,  das  hauppgewicht 
aber  auf  das  Sterben  Luther  legen."  (Majunke,  L.  L.  p.  41.) 
Since  he  himself  has  little  faith  in  these  stories  and  places  his 
principal  stress  upon  Luther's  death,  it  is  diffiult  to  understand 
why  he  should  dig  up  and  place  before  the  public  of  this  en- 
lightened age  such  disgusting,  profane,  absurd,  superstitious 
and  self  contradictory  stories.  It  almost  looks  as  if  he  aims  "to 
catch  the  unwary,"  defame  Luther,  slander  Protestantism  in 
general  and  the  Lutheran  Church  in  particular.  He  who  pub- 
licly confesses  to  have  little  faith  in  the  evil  rumors  he  circu- 
lates not  only  robs  them  of  credence,  but  also  impugns  his 
own  motives. 

Let  us,  however,  proceed  to  Luther's  death.  Since  Majunke 
places  so  much  stress  upon  it.  it  will  be  necessary  to  investi- 
gate the  account  of  the  same  carefully  in  order  to  find  out 
whether  it  is  founded  upon  the  solid  or  shifting  sand.  Why 
does  Majunke  join  Bozius  and  Bellarmine  in  placing  so  much 
stress  upon  Luther's  death  ?  A  careful  study  shows  that  there 
was  then  a  general  belief  that  a  heresiarch  must  die  a  fearful 
horrible  and  ignominious  death.  Anderdon  says,  (Luther 
p.  123)  :  "The  chair  of  Peter  is  like  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant; 
no  Uzzah  ever  touched  it  irrevently,  and  remained  unscatlied." 
This  seems  to  have  been  the  general  belief  in  those  days,  and 
is  doubtless  held  by  many  today.  He,  who  firmly  holds  to  this 
belief,  must  therefore  necessarily  show  that  Luther  died  such 
a  death.  Anderdon,  though  firmly  believing  that  no  one  will 
go  unscathed  that  irreverently  touches  the  chair  of  Peter,  ap- 
pears to  have  little  faith  in  the  belief  as  above  stated.  Hence, 
after  giving  a  highly  colored  description  of  Luther's  last  even- 
ing, closes  by  saying:  "A  few  hours  later  Luther  was  a 
corpse  (Anderdon,  Luther,  p.  31).  Majunke,  however,  seems 
to  be  a  firm  believer  in  this  questionable  and  fallacious  doc- 
trine. 

We  call  this  doctrine  questionable  and  fallacious  not  because 
we  wish  to  assert  thereby  that  there  may  be  no  heresiarchs,  and 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  261 

that  they  may  not  thus  die,  but  because  our  judgment  concern- 
ing the  character  of  our  fellow-worshippers  of  God  and  their 
death  may  at  times  be  very  erroneous.  Who  for  instance,  is  a 
heresiarch?  Is  every  one  that  dies  a  fearful,  horrible  and  ig- 
nominious death  such  an  one  ?  May  not  a  person  be  in  the  eyes 
of  one  a, heretic,  apostate  and  a  blasphemer,  and  in  the  eyes  of 
another  a  faithful  servant  of  the  Lord,  a  child  of  the  living  God 
and  an  heir  of  heaven  ?  The  Jews,  for  instance,  who  in  their 
own  eyes  were  pious  and  godfearing  men  and  considered  their 
mode  of  worshipping  the  God  of  their  fathers  as  alone  true, 
looked  upon  Paul  in  the  same  light  as  Luther  has  been  looked 
upon  by  his  opponents.  In  their  religious  zeal  they  considered 
him  unfit  to  live.  He  was  persecuted  by  them  from  the  time  of 
his  conversion  at  Damascus,  till  he  was  put  to  death  by  the 
hand  of  the  executioner  at  Rome ;  and  after  his  death  defamers 
were  not  wanting.  Were  they  right  in  their  judgment?  Many 
of  the  names  ascribed  to  Luther  by  his  opponents  you  will  find 
in  the  Gospels  ascribed  unto  our  Saviour.  Christ  was  called  a 
glutton  and  winebibber,  described  as  in  league  with  Beelzebub 
and  having  a  devil,  as  a  perverter  of  the  nation  and  a  malefactor 
as  a  blasphemer  and  one  that  ought  to  die,  and  that  by  men 
v/ho  stood  high  in  the  Church.  Even  the  successor  of  the  di- 
vinely appointed  head  of  the  Mosaic  economy  and  the  mem- 
bers of  the  highest  ecclesiastical  tribunal  of  that  economy,  con- 
demned him  to  death  as  a  blasphemer,  caused  him  to  die  that 
fearful,  horrible  and  ignominious  death  upon  the  cross.  Hav- 
ing done  all  this  they  tried  to  cover  their  error  and  crime  by 
means  of  a  clumsy  story.  Was  Christ,  i^ecause  He  was  con- 
demned by  the  successor  of  the  divinely  appointed  head  of  the 
Mosaic  economy  and  the  highest  ecclesiastical  tribunal  of  the 
same  and  because  He  died  a  fearful,  horrible  and  ignominious 
death,  a  heresiarch?  Were  those  who  condemned  Him  in- 
fallible in  their  judgment?  Anderdon  doubtless  saw  the  dif- 
ficulty, hence  he  avoided  it ;  Majunke,  however,  holds  on  to  the 
monstrous  doctrine  that  places  Christ  among  the  heresiarchs, 
and  declares  the  successor  of  the  divinely  appointed  head  of 
the  Mosaic  economy  and  the  highest  ecclesiastical  tribunal  of 
the  same,  as  infallible  in  its  judgment.     Hence,  he  and  all  who 


262  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

hold  this  view  are  compelled  to  show  in  some  way  or  other  that 
Luther  died  a  fearful,  horrible  and  ignominious  death. 

Luther's  opponents,  as  we  have  seen,  knew  more  about  his 
remains  than  about  his  death.  In  spite  of  the  authentic  ac- 
counts of  Luther's  edifying,  peaceful  and  blessed  death  by 
about  sixteen  trustworth}-  persons,  who  were  eye  witnesses 
and  whose  names  are  given  (See  Kold  L.  S.  p.  ii  and  13), 
his  opponents  nevertheless  stn'mised  that  he  died  a  most  hor- 
rible death,  a  death  corresponding  to  that  of  Judas  Iscariot. 
Such  surmisings  were  in  perfect  harmony  with  their  view 
about  Luther  and  even  necessitated  by  the  belief  just  referred 
to.  In  this  doubtful  condition  they  seemed  to  have  remained 
till  1592,  or  46  years.  It  was  during  that  memorable  year 
that  a  key  was  found  to  unlock  the  supposed  mystery  in  per- 
fect harmony  with  the  superstition  and  belief  of  the  age,  and 
also  to  the  complete  satisfaction  of  his  opponents.  It  appears 
that  whilst  this  scholarly  Bozius  wrote  his  remarkable  chapter 
on  the  end  of  all  heresiarchs  for  his  well  known  work,  De 
Signis  Ecclesiae,  a  servant  of  Luther,  who  after  his  Master's 
death  had  returned  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  whose 
name  is  unfortunately  not  given,  revealed  how  the  servants 
found  Luther,  Feb.  18,  1546,  "Juxta  lectum  suum  pensilem  et 
miser e  strangulatum;'  but  were  immediately  put  under  oath 
not  to*  reveal  the  same.  (Majunke  L.  L.  p.  27  and  28).  The 
long  looked  for  revelation  came  at  last  just  in  the  very  nick 
of  time,  and  was  doubtless  gratefully  received  by  the  histor- 
ian. How  could  Bozius  have  completed  the  important  chapter, 
which  he  was  at  this  very  time  writing,  without  being  able  to 
depict  Luther's  dreadful,  horrible  and  ignominous  death  ?  The 
dreadful  deaths  of  such  hereisarchs  as  Oecolampadius,  Carls- 
tadt,  Bucer  and  Calvin,  were  all  known  to  the  writer,  but  if 
Luther's  had  not  been  made  known  unto  him  just  at  that  time, 
his  arch  of  heresiarchs  could  not  have  been  completed  for 
want  of  the  keystone,  the  prime  heretic  Luther. 

According  to  Majunke's  account  it  is  somewhat  doubtful 
whether  Bozius  obtained  this  important  information 
from  Luther's  former  servant  personally  or  through 
some     other     parties.       He  says:     "Dieser     Diener     befand 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 


?26a 


sich  noch  im  jugendlicheni  Alter  als  sein  Her  starb.  Nach  dem 
Tode  desselben  Kehrte  er  in  die  Katholische  Kirche  zurueck 
und  trat  hierauf  entweder  in  Persoenlicher  Beziehung  zu  Bozius 
(oder  Bozis)  oder  zu  dessen  Frembe  Kreis,  gerade  als  der 
selbe  sein  Beruehmtes,  von  Theologen  das  folgenden  Jahrhun- 
derts  haufig  citirtes  Werk.  De  Signis  Ecclesiae  ( Rom  und : 
Koeln  1592  und  1593)  schried."  (L.  L.,  p.  25.)  Since  Bozius 
may  have  based  his  account  of  Luther's  death  upon  second  hand 
evidence,  it,  therefore,  depends  somewhat  upon  the  character 
and  intelHgence  of  these  friends  and  since  we  have  sufficient  and 
satisfactory  assurance  that  his  informants,  whose  names  are  not 
given,  were  persons  of  credible  character  and  intelligence,  we 
have  no  sufficient  and  satisfactory  assurance  that  their  state- 
ments are  true. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  servant  himself.  According  to 
Majunke,  (L.  L.  p.  25)  he  was  quite  young  when  his  master 
died,  had  been  a  Lutheran  and  returned  to  the  Catholic  Church 
after  his  Master's  death.  This  is  all  that  we  know  about  him. 
It  is  a  great  pity  that  his  name  was  not  given,  since  the  honor, 
which  really  seems  to  belong  to  Luther's  servant  is,  according 
to  the  Duesburger  Volkszeitung  (Kolde,  L.  S.,  p.  33)  claimed 
by  a  servant  of  the  Count  of  Mansfield,  who  declares  to  have 
been  sent  by  his  master  to  Luther's  room  in  order  to  find  out 
why  he  slept  so  long;  and  that  he  was  the  first  to  find  Luther 
as  above  mentioned.  Of  course  it  is  somewhat  difficult  to  de- 
cide at  this  late  day,  to  whom  the  great  honor  really  belongs, 
since  there  may  have  been  others  as  justly  entitled  to  it  as  these 
two  anonymous  servants. 

Without  being  partial  of  either  of  them,  we  would  never- 
theless ask :  why  did  Bozius  withhold  the  name  of  the  man  who 
rendered  him  such  important  and  valuable  service  just  in  the 
very  nick  of  time?  He  surely  did  not  wish  to  rob  the  man  oT 
the  honor  due  him  after  he  had  enabled  him  to  complete  his 
famous  chapter  on  the  end  of  all  heresiarchs  ?  Was  the  servant 
not  man  enough  to  stand  by  his  statement  after  he  had  made 
it?  would  his  name  have  greatly  depreciated  the  value  of  the 
same?  would  the  mentioning  of  his  name  have  exposed  him 
to  any  danger  ?    or  was  it  an  invention  ?    To  say  the  least,  the 


264  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

withholding  of  his  name  looks  suspicious.  It  looks  as  if  it 
had  been  intentionally  withheld.  Whilst  Luther's  friends  have 
furnished  about  sixteen  names  of  persons  present  at  his  death 
his  opponents  have  not  furnished  a  single  one.  Their  entire 
account  is  based  upon  the  statemnt  of  an  anonymous  person. 
But  this  anonymity  suggests  a  question  in  perfect  harmony 
with  a  fair  and  just  inquiry  after  the  truth,  namely:  What  is 
the  legal  value  of  a  statement  made  by  an  anonymous  person 
about  46  years  after  the  supposed  event  has  taken  place? 

According  to  the  sacred  Scriptures  Bozius  and  all  who  have 
followed  him  have  established  nothing.  In  turning  to  the  Bible 
we  find  there  a  clear  and  definite  law  to  secure  a  person  against 
injury  to  life,  property  of  character,  through  inadequate  or 
false  attestation.  Even  if  the  evidence  of  the  anonymous  ser- 
vant were  true,  it  would  be  insufficient  to  establish  that  of 
which  Luther  is  accused.  The  testimony  produced  is  not 
only  somewhat  doubtful,  but  is,  according  to  the  Bible,  inade- 
quate, since  it  needs  just  one  more  witness.  The  law  of  God 
covering  this  subject  reads :  "One  witness  shall  not  rise  up 
against  a  man  for  any  iniquity,  or  for  any  sin,  in  any  sin  that 
he  sinneth ;  at  the  mouth  of  two  witnesses,  or  at  the  mouth  of 
three  witnesss,  shall  the  matter  be  established."  (Duet.  19: 
15).  According  to  Mat.  18:  16  this  law  was  sanctioned  by 
our  Saviour,  and  reaffirmed  by  Paul,  (11.  Cor.  13:1).  A  care- 
ful study  of  the  Anti  Nicene  Fathers  will  further  show  that 
it  was  carefully  observed  by  the  primitive  Church.  Hence,  ac- 
cording to  the  highest  authority  we  have,  the  testimony  of  a 
single  anonymous  witness  establishes  nothing.  It  is  somewhat 
surprising  that  God's  holy  law  should  be  thus  ignored  by  those 
of  Luther's  opponents  who  accuse  him  of  breaking  God's  law ! 

Majunke  doubtless  realized  that  he  could  not  expect  an  en- 
lightened, cultured  and  critical  age  to  accept  conclusions 
based  upon  a  dubious  story  and  entirely  unscriptural.  hence  he 
endeavors  to  carry  convictions  to  the  hearts  of  his  readers  by 
-in'ding  to  ]v.<  ircat-'sc  a  chapter  on*  ''Die  Gemuths  Stimm'.Jig 
Luther's  gegen  das  Ende  Seines  Lehens."  In  this  he  labors  hard 
to  sliow  the  condition  of  Luther's  mind  toward  the  end  of  his  life, 
which  condition  he  claims  was  brought  about  through  the  ap- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  265 

parent  failure  of  reformatory  efforts,  his  troubles  at  Wittenberg 
and  in  his  own  family.  This  mental  condition,  he  says,  so 
alarmed  his  friends  that  they  employed  a  special  servant  to 
watch  him  continually.  (L.L.  p.  52)  Now,  since  according 
to  Majunke's  psychological  argument  a  servant  was  continual- 
ly with  Luther  to  protect  him  when  alone,  it  is  somewhat  diffi- 
cult to  understand  hdw  he  could  have  been  found  as  stated  by 
some  of  his  opponents.  The  specially  appointed  servant  in- 
stead of  carrying  conviction  makes  the  case  even  more  doubt- 
ful and  mysterious.  Inasmuch  as  this  servant  was  always 
with  Luther  whilst  alone,  and  inasmuch  as,  according  to  Lu- 
ther's opponents,  Luther  must  have  been  drinking  pretty  freely 
before  he  returned  to  his  room  where  he  is  supposed  to  have 
been  found  dead,  may  not  this  very  servant,  who  was  alone 
with  him  then  and  there,  for  some  reason,  or  consideration 
have  murdered  him  and  then  to  cover  his  crime  have  placed 
him  in  the  position  in  which  some  of  his  opponents'  claim  he 
was  found !  And  may  not  this  very  servant,  who  was  always 
with  Luther  whilst  alone,  be  the  anonymous  servant,  who  in 
1592  first  disclosed  to  Bozius,  or  his  friends,  how  the  great 
heresiarch  died?  Considering  the  age  in  which  Luther  lived, 
the  attitude  of  some  of  his  opponents  and  the  ban  under  which 
he  was,  Majunke's  psychological  chapter,  which  was  intended 
to  carry  conviction  and  justify  his  unscriptural  condemnation 
of  Luther,  argues  far  more  in  favor  of  murder  than  of  suicide. 
Thus  we  see  the  fallacy  and  self-destructiveness  of  the  argu- 
ments brought  against  Luther  as  a  translator  of  the  sacred 
Scriptures  and  concerning  his  death.  Whilst  his  defamers  are 
unable  to  maintain  their  position  and  are  invariably  dislodged 
by  their  own  guns,  Luther  has  remained  unscathed  and  per- 
fectly secure  in  his  feste  Burg. 


REMARKS. 
The  Rev.  Dr.  Spaeth  said : — 

J.  A.  Bengel,  that  eminently  sober  and  well  balanced  Suabian 
theologian  gave  it  as  his  honest  conviction,  that  after  Christ  no 
one,  not  even  the  Apostles  had  to  bear  so  many  calumnies  as 
Luther.      (Post  Christum    nemo    tot    calumnias    ferre    quam 


266  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

Lutherus  debuit,  neque  ipsi  Apostoli.)  These  slanders  come^ 
on  the  one  side,  from  the  Romanists.  Their  coarseness  and 
open  preversion  of  historical  facts  are  of  such  a  character  that 
they  may  be  considered  as  being  beneath  our  notice,  though  the 
bold  aggressiveness  with  which  they  are  constantly  repeated  may 
now  and  then  call  for  a  manly  protest.  But  there  is  another 
class  of  defamers  of  Luther  whose  attacks  upon  his  character 
are  ir.ore  subtle  and  refined  and  consequently  more  calculated 
to  do  real  mischief.  I  might  characterize  them  in  a  general 
way  as  Erasmians.  admirers  of  the  great  humanist  Erasmus 
who  show  that  in  proportion  as  a  man  is  inclined  to  exalt 
Erasmus  he  will  degrade  Luther,  and  that  those  who  worship 
Erasmus  as  a  hero  are  unfit  to  do  justice  to  the  character  and 
life  work  of  Martin  Luther.  This  class  is  common  among 
modern  writers  and  lecturers  in  England.  One  of  them,  Au- 
gustine Birrell,  in  an  article  "Down  the  Rhine",  published  in 
the  Century  Magazine,  December,  1900,  went  out  of  his  way 
to  defame  Luther  in  statements  like  these,  "that  no  Catholic 
controversiaHst  would  have  any  difficulty  in  culling  passages 
from  the  writings  of  the  Reformer  which  are  filthy  enough. 
Henry  VIII  and  Martin  Luther  are  not  ideal  sponsors  of  a 
new  religion,  they  were  both  masters  of  billingsgate  and  the 
least  saintly  of  men."  I  called  the  attention  of  my  friend  Pro- 
fessor Rob.  Ellis  Thompson,  D.  D.,  principal  of  the  Philadel- 
phia High  School,  to  this  article.  He  is  a  Presbyterian,  and 
as  such  may  be  supposed  to  be  perfectly  impartial  and  unbiased 
in  his  judgment,  while,  at  the  same  time,  he  has  few  equals, 
even  among  our  own  theologians,  as  a  student  of  Luther.  Dr. 
Thompson  protested  against  Mr.  Birrell's  statements  in  a  letter 
to  the  editor  of  the  Century  JMagazine  from  which  I  am  permit- 
ted to  quote:  "Mr.  Birrell,  like  his  countrymen  generally,  knows 
little  or  nothing  of  Luther  at  first  hand.  Of  all  Protestant 
countries  England  has  the  fewest  of  what  I  may  call  Luther- 
ists.  The  celebration  of  the  fourth  centenary  of  his  birth  in 
1883  produced  in  England  not  a  single  respectable  work  on 
the  subject, — Mr.  Froude's  stylish  essay  and  Mr.  Baine's  made- 
to-order  biography  being  only  apparent  exceptions.  Those 
English  Christians  who  care  for  Luther  are  content  to  take 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  267 

him  at  second  hand,  and  very  much  Frenchified,  out  of  the 
pages  of  Merle  d'Aubigne.  Those  who  disHke  him  are  con- 
tent with  the  quotations  from  his  works  in  the  pages  of  Roman 
CathoHc  Controversiahsts.  From  indications  in  Mr.  Birrell's 
article,  I  must  infer  that  he  has  tried  to  strike  an  average  by- 
combining  these  admirable  sources  of  information. 

Once  for  all  permit  me  to  deny  that  any  Catholic  controver- 
sialist "has  no  difificulty  in  culling  from  the  writings  of  the  Re- 
former passages  which  are  filthy  enough."  The  only  attempts 
to  produce  such  quotations  that  I  have  seen,  professed  to  derive 
them  from  one  of  two  sources.  One  of  these  is  his  sermons 
on  marriage,  which  controversialists  are  fond  of  describing  as 
too  coarse  for  quotation.  Archdeacon  Hare  says  that  in  no  one 
of  Luther's  four  sermons  on  marriage  is  there  anything  to  war- 
rant any  such  censure.  And  this,  I  think,  will  be  the  judgment 
of  any  fair-minded  reader  who  actually  reads  them.  They  are 
couched  in  very  plain  speech,  as  was  the  fashion  of  that  cen- 
tury and  of  the  next,  of  Henry  Smith,  Jeremy  Taylor,  and  other 
good  theologians  who  had  occasion  to  discuss  such  questions. 
But  they  are  not  filthy,  and  no  man  who  had  not  avery  great  re- 
verence for  marriage  could  have  written  any  one  of  them. 

The  other  source  is  Luther's  Table-Talk.  This  was  pub- 
lished twenty  years  after  his  death  from  notes  made  by  some 
dozen  of  his  friends,  without  any  revision  on  his  part,  and 
with  some  very  manifest  mistakes  as  to  his  meaning.  It  is 
not  one  of  his  "writings,"  and  therefore  cannot  be  one  of  the 
sovirces  from  which  Mr.  Birrell's  Roman  Catholic  controver- 
sialists "have  no  difficulty  in  extracting  filthy  passages." 
There  are  some  places  in  the  book  in  which  Luther  speaks  in 
language  which  it  is  impossible  not  to  regret ;  but  they  are 
very  few  and  they  are  never  the  coarseness  of  a  libidinous 
mind.  They  represent  not  so  much  the  man,  as  his  peasant 
birth  and  his  monkish  training.  He  had  no  love  for  the 
things  which  defile  the  mind,  and  his  pure  life  as  a  house- 
father and  a  Christian  were  such  as  showed  him  worthy  of  the 
reverence  with  which  nearly  all  Germany  and  millions  in  our 
country  regard  him. 

To  combine  him  and  Henry  VHI  as  "sponsors  for  a  new 


268  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

religion"  shows  that  Mr.  Birrell  knows  nothing  about 
Lntlier  that  is  worth  the  knowing.  Luther  had  no 
new  reHgion  to  preach.  He  took  his  stand  on  the 
Catechism  taught  him  in  his  youth, — meaning  the  Creed,  the 
Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Ten  Commandments.  He  did  not  put 
a  book  into  the  place  of  the  Church,  as  Mr.  Birrell  thinks.  He 
put  God  into  the  place  which  the  Church  had  usurped.  He  did 
not  preach  "the  right  of  private  judgment"  or  any  other  of  the 
formulas  of  later  British  Protestantism.  He  did  not  under 
value  the  Church  and  its  Sacraments,  and  he  spent  a  large  part 
of  his  strength  in  fighting  those  who  wanted  to  rend  the  Church 
into  fragments  by  their  "private  judgment,"  and  to  reduce  the 
sacraments  to  empty  forms.  He  did  not  set  himself  up  as  his 
own  Pope  or  anybody's  Pope.  He  had  such  faith  in  the  living 
presence  of  Christ,  in  His  Word  and  Sacraments,  that  he  felt 
no  need  of  a  Pope.  Loyalty  to  that  authority,  not  self-will, 
was  the  note  of  his  character.  He  did  not  even  choose  his 
path  as  a  Reformer.  He  was  brought  to  begin  the  work  by 
his  sense  of  his  duty  to  his  "Beichtkinder"  in  Wittenberg.  He 
was  driven  on  from  step  to  step  largely  by  his  adversaries.  He 
did  not  leave  the  communion  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  but  was 
cast  out  of  it,  just  as  was  Doellinger  in  our  own  day,  because 
he  could  not  and  would  not  do  what  his  conscience  condemned. 
There  is  no  man  alive  who  is  better  qualified  by  breadth  of 
sympathy  and  just  discrimination  to  do  justice  to  Luther  than 
is  Mr.  Birrell,  if  he  will  but  acquaint  himself  with  the  man. 
He  will  then  recognize  in  Luther's  intense  faith,  his  heroic 
loyalty  to  the  truth,  his  tenderness  to  the  troubled  and  the 
tempted,  his  breadth  of  sympathy  with  all  that  is  good  in  hu- 
manity, his  poetic  achievement  as  the  founder  of  German 
Hymnology,  his  love  of  little  children,  his  interest  in  nature, 
especially  the  birds,  his  kindly  relations  with  all  classes  around 
him,  his  incessant  labor  for  the  welfare  of  the  churches,  and 
of  their  members,  and  his  deep  humility,  the  explanation  of 
that  marvellous  charm  which  has  made  him  the  spiritual  guide 
of  ir.illions  of  devout  Christians.  He  will  find  in  Luther  a 
character  both  grander  and  finer  than  John  Wesley,  and  per- 
haps lie  will  discover  why  it  was  that  it  was  through  hearing 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  269 

Luther's  preface  to  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  read  in  the 
Moravian  Church,  that  Wesley  attained  to  spiritual  peace  and 
became  the  doer  of  the  good  works  recorded  in  his  "Journal." 


REMARKS  ON  THE  CONFERENCE  AND  ITS  WORK. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  L.  E.  Albert  said  :— 

That  the  results  of  the  Conference  could  not  but  be  bene- 
ficial. First.  They  were  stimulating.  The  papers  read  were 
of  a  highly  intellectual  character,  and  stirred  up  the  thinking 
powers  to  activity.  They  refreshed  the  mind  with  great  truths, 
and  fixed  them  anew  upon  the  memory.  They  gave  in  many 
cases  a  new  insight  into  what  was  familiar,  and  taught  anew 
their  power  and  correctness.  Secondly.  They  were  calculated 
to  produce  a  spirit  of  unity.  It  could  not  be  otherwise,  since 
in  the  great  essentials,  there  was  found  to  be,  a  substantial 
agreement.  Brethren  who  had  misunderstood  one  another, 
from  misconceptions  of  their  true  position,  were  surprised  to 
find, •that  they  stood  upon  the  same  basis,  and  were  animated 
by  the  same  lofty  motives.  By  everything  that  was  said  and 
done,  all  were  convinced  of  a  nearness  both  in  doctrine  and 
practice,  and  were  disposed  to  exercise  a  larger  charity. 
Thirdly  .  They  provoked  a  greater  Church  love.  A  just  feel- 
ing of  pride  for  the  grand  Church,  with  which  we  were  con- 
nected, was  evidently  enkindled  by  the  proceedings  of  the 
Conference.  The  estimation  in  which  God's  Word  was  held 
was  eminently  conspicuous.  The  great  stress  laid  upon  the 
Bible  as  the  source  of  supreme  authority,  was  very  manifest. 
The  great  doctrine  of  the  Atonement,  through  a  Crucified  Sav- 
ior was  clearly  upheld  and  defended.  The  Sacraments,  as 
means  of  grace  were  prominently  set  forth  and  advocated. 
And  to  all  was  added  the  necessity  of  a  truly  Christian  life,  to 
him  who  was  a  true  believer.  All  felt  that  it  was  an  honor  to 
belong  to  a  church  with  such  a  faith,  and  a  privilege  as  well  as 
a  duty  to  extend  her  power  and  her  influence. 


The  Rev.  Dr.  Holloway,  said : — 

I  have  much  enjoyed  this  conference.    It  has  been  a  precious 


270  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

season  to  me.  It  is  a  prophecy  of  great  good  to  our  beloved 
church.  We  owe  a  great  debt  to  the  committee,  and  lasting 
thanks  to  the  essayists  for  giving  us  such  excellent  papers.  I 
never  heard  any  better. 

When  I  entered  on  my  first  pastorate  in  Maryland  a  mem- 
ber of  my  church  asked  me,  "Are  you  an  old,  or  a  new  Luth- 
eran?" My  reply  was,  "I  am  neither;  I  am  a  Lutheran."  I 
am  convinced  now  as  I  was  then,  that  this  is  the  true  position. 
I  have  never  had  occasion  to  recede  from  it.  I  was  ordained 
by  the  mother  Synod  in  Reading,  Pa.,  and  have  served 
churches  in  both  general  bodies,  the  General  Synod  and  Gen- 
eral Council,  and  never  had  my  Lutheranism  questioned. 

I  thank  God  for  this  day,  for  what  my  eyes  have  seen  and 
my  ears  have  heard.  I  rejoice  with  you  all,  dear  brethren,  in 
the  coming  together  of  our  glorious  church,  and  in  the  better 
understanding  of  one  another.  We  are  all  brethren,  and  of  the 
same  household  of  faith.  Let  us  strive  to  be  better  Christians, 
and  we  shall  all  be  still  better  Lutherans. 


The  Rev.  A.  Aaron  said : — 

This  convention  is  marked  by  extra  high  character.  We 
have  listened  to  elaborate  and  learned  papers  on  topics  common 
to  us  all  and  have  discussed  them  in  harmonious  and  sound 
spirit.  Now  we  must  continue  these  ecumenical  conventions ; 
they  shall  lead  us  to  great  results.  We  want  to  finally  form 
a  general  body  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  America.  This 
seems  a  bold  statement,  yet  is  true.  In  the  depths  of  our  hearts 
we  long  for  such  a  state  and  let  us  not  give  up  until  we  have 
accomplished  the  great  work.  This,  however,  takes  long  time, 
unfeigned  work,  and  much  wisdom  from  on  high.  The  unifi- 
cation must  not  be  done  at  the  expense  of  our  fundamental 
principles.  Those  we  dare  not  alter  and  in  this  respect  let 
there  be  no  compromise.  Let  the  adiaphora,  though  so  hard  to 
properly  define,  find  their  place.  The  somewhat  poorer  sec- 
tions will  eventually  become  more  conservative  and  slowly 
grasp  the  unaltered  truths  to  which  these  meetings  greatly  en- 
courage. I  have  lately  observed  a  gradual  increase  of  or- 
thodoxy both  in  theory  and  practice  in  many    places.      As    a 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE,  271 

missionary  I  see  the  weakness  of  our  church  in  solving-  many 
local,  financial  and  even  ecclesiastical  questions,  because  of 
our  not  understanding  each  other.  The  strength  in  unity  shall 
further  our  home  and  foreign  mission.  We  shall  be  recog- 
nized as  a  Church  in  America,  while  we  are  now  largely 
looked  upon  as  merely  some  few  congregations,  though  we  in 
fact  are  one  of  the  largest  churches  in  this  land  and  on  the 
globe.  National  and  language  problenis  are  solved  and  may  the 
Luther-bosom  gather  home  and  embrace  its  children. 


The  Rev.  Dr.  Bauslin  said : — 

I  have  heard  with  pleasure  the  remarks  of  Dr.  Luther  Al- 
bert, who  might  now  be  called  one  of  the  fathers  in  the  min- 
istry of  the  General  Synod.  The  sentiments  he  had  expressed 
were  certainly  reflective  of  the  best  life  and  sentiment  of  the 
"body  he  represented.  If  the  speaker  might  say  a  word  for  the 
men  of  his  own  generation  it  would  be  this —  that,  in  his  judg- 
ment, it  did  not  become  men  who  were  under  fifty  years  of  age 
yet,  to  spend  their  energies  in  magnifying  differences  and  par- 
tisanship that  had  their  origin  and  were  fostered  most  in  the 
church  in  this  country,  when  they  were  little  boys.  It  was 
-even  less  becoming  yet  in  younger  men  and  something  not  to 
be  expected.  In  this  the  future  was  full  of  hope  for  the 
practical  life  and  work  of  the  Church.  The  speaker  expressed 
himself  as  delighted  with  the  spirit,  the  ability  of  the  papers 
read  and  the  happy  correspondence  of  the  views  maintained. 


The  Rev.  Dr.  Harpster  said :  \ 

He  thought  one  thing  was  pretty  evident  all  through  the 
meetings  of  the  Conference,  and  that  was  that  no  one  seemed 
to  think  of  any  organic  union  of  the  different  bodies  repre- 
sented here  except  as  something  of  the  very  remote  future.  No 
one  seemed  concerned  about  that,  and  he  did  not  know  that 
it  was  a  matter  of  much  concern ;  certainly  not  of  immediate 
concern.  But  what  was  of  concern,  and  immediate,  too, 
was  that  there  should  be  full  and  fraternal  cooperation  among 
Lutherans  along  all  lines  of  Christian  work.  And  that  con-- 
■earn,  he  thought,  was  manifest  in  these  meetings  from  begin- 


272 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 


ning  to  end.  If  it  were  not  for  the  very  palpable  difference  in 
surroundings,  he  could  almost  imagine  himself  back  in  their 
Lutheran  Conference  in  India.  Perhaps  the  brethren  did  not 
know  that  for  the  last  half  dozen  years  the  General  Synod, 
the  General  Council,  the  Hermannsburg  and  the  Schleswig- 
Holstein  Lutheran  missionaries  of  the  Telugu  country  had  been 
holding  annual  meetings  to  discuss  common  interests.  If 
Danes,  Swedes,  Germans,  Russians,  Canadians  and  Americans 
can  stand  together  on  a  Lutheran  platform,  it  ought  not  be  so 
great  a  feat  here.  You  could  not  persuade  him  that  this  Con- 
ference did  not  betoken  good  things  for  the  two  missions  in 
India.  Organic  union  might  also  seem  remote  there,  but  it 
seemed  to  him  not  impossible.  Certainly  something  could  be 
done  in  the  way  of  economical  mission  administration  by  a  clos- 
er connection  between  the  two  missions.  If  a  relation  could  be 
brought  about  which,  whilst  enlarging  the  sphere  of  usefulness 
of  both  missions,  would,  at  the  same  time,  be  in  the  interests 
of  a  greater  economy,  it  would  seem  a  manifest  duty  to  try  to 
bring  it  about.  This  would  be  well  worth  while  looking  into 
on  the  part  of  the  church  and  the  Boards. 

The  Rev.  S.  D.  Daugherty  said  : — 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Brethren :  It  is  with  pleasure  I  express 
my  appreciation  of  this  Conference  of  Lutherans.  With  some 
others  on  the  floor  of  this  convention,  I  had  certain  prejudices 
and  misgivings  to  contend  with  before  we  convened,  but  the 
warmth  of  brotherly  love  and  the  common  interests  revealed 
here  have  entirely  dispelled  these. 

I  have  been  especially  interested  in  the  missionary  addresses 
by  the  brethren  from  the  South,  West,  and  East,  representing 
the  three  great  branches  of  our  Lutheran  Church  in  this  Con- 
ference. They  have  shown  us  our  common  heritage  in  this 
country  and  how  the  fields  are  white  unto  the  harvest. 

We  are  more  and  more  convinced  as  the  light  of  the 
truth  reveals  the  situation  that  the  work  of  evangelization 
among  the  m.asses — especially  this  great  middle  class — is  the 
work  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL  CONFERENCE.  273 

This  is  the  day  of  our  opportunity.  The  mukitudes  in  our 
great  cities  especially,  are  waiting  for  us.  The  Master  is  urg- 
ing us  with  the  assurance  that  He  has  all  power  for  this  work, 
and  that  He  will  be  with  us  even  unto  its  consummation. 
Shall  we  quit  ourselves  like  men,  and  do  with  our  might  what 
our  hands  find  to  do  ?  If  so,  our  beloved  Church  will  soon  take 
her  place,  her  rightful  place,  in  the  work  of  redeeming  this 
world. 

It  may  be  a  long  while  before  we  shall  be  organically 
bound  together,  but  is  it  not  high  time  that  we  work  in  the 
bonds  of  love  with  one  Lord,  one  faith,  and  one  baptism  in 
common.  May  we  not  still  hope  for  closer  fellowship  in  love 
and  service? 


Register  of  Names. 

The  followino;  list  of  names  is  a  register  of  those  clergymen 
who  were  present,  as  complete  as,  under  the  circumstances, 
could  be  obtained,  also  of  the  students,  deaconesses,  laymen 
and  laywonien  whose  names  were  handed  to  the  secretaries : 

CLERGYMEN. 

Aaron,  A Passaic.  N.  J. 

Albert.  Charles,  S..  D.  D Philadelphia.  Pa. 

Albert,  L.  E.,  D.  D Germantown.  Philadelphia.  Pa. 

Alleman,   H.   C Philadelphia,   Pa. 

Altpeter,   Peter Catawissa,   Pa. 

Apple.   U.    E Red    Lion.    Pa. 

Barber,  William  F Rondout,  N.  Y. 

Bare.  W.  F.. Dallastown,  Pa. 

Bauer.  \'ictor  J Summit  Hill,  Pa. 

Baum,  Frederick  J Philadelphia.  Pa. 

Bauni,  V\^illiam  M..  Jr Canajoharie.  N.  Y. 

Bauslin.  Prof.  D.  H..  D.  D Springfield,  Ohio. 

Beck,  A.  R Rightwell,  S.  C. 

Becker.  James   L Lansdale,   Pa. 

Beistel,   F.   S Jeanette,   Pa. 

Bell,  Ezra  K..  D.  D Baltimore,  Md. 

Berkemeier.  G.  C,  D.  D Mt.  Vernon,  N.  Y 

Bertolet,   U.    S.   G Philadelphia,   Pa. 

Bielinski.  R.  C.  G Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Blomgren,    Carl Philadelphia.    Pa. 

Bond,   William   F., Town    City,    Pa. 

Bowers,  J.  C Washington.  D.  C. 

Brownmiller.   E.   S..   D.   D Reading.    Pa. 

Brugel.  G.  A Philipsburg,  N.  J. 

Busby,  L.  E..  D.  D Salisbury,  N.  C. 

Butler,  C.  H Washington,  D.  C. 

Cassaday,    E.    R Philadelphia,    Pa. 

Clay,  Prof.  A.  T.,  Ph.  D Philadelphia.  Pa. 

Cooper,  F.  E., South  Bethlehem,  Pa. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  275 

Daugherty,  S.  D., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Dietterich,  J.  E Flourtown,  Pa, 

Dingman,  Edwin, West  Hoboken,  X.  J. 

Doerr,  Frederic Wilmington,   Del. 

Dozer,  Charles  E Philadelphia,   Pa. 

Droch,  George., Philadelphia,   Pa. 

Dunbar,  W.  H.,  D.  D Baltimore,  Md. 

Early,   J.   W Reading.    Pa. 

Enders,  G.  W.,   D.   D., York,   Pa. 

■Erb.  J.  S., Slatington,  ,Pa. 

Fastnacht,  A.  G York,  Pa. 

Fegley,  W.  O., Trappe,  Pa. 

Fichthorn,  A.  S., Norristown,  Pa. 

Finch,  Herbert,  .  .- Philadelphia,  Pa, 

Fischer,  C.  G., Elizabeth,  N.  J. 

Fischer,  O.  W., Tamaqua.  Pa. 

Fisher,  W.  E.,  D.  D Shamokin,  Pa. 

Flick,  H.  H., Manchester,  Md. 

Fluck,  J.   F.   C Philadelphia,   Pa. 

Fry,  Charles  L Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Fry,  F.  F Rochester,  N.  Y. 

^Fry,  Prof.,  Jacob,  D.  D Mt.  Airy,   Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Gable,  Z.  H., Reading,  Pa. 

Gebert,  George Tamaqua,  Pa. 

Geissinger,  D.  H.,  D.  D., Pittsburg,  Pa. 

Goedel,  Carl,   .:'•;.'.  -i^'^-'-s Philadelphia.  Pa. 

Hafer,  L.  B., Friesburg,  N.  J. 

Hall,  J.  A.,  D.  D Canton,  Ohio. 

Hamma,  M.  W.,  D.  D Washington,  D.  C. 

Hancher,  A.  D.  R., Staunton,  Va. 

Hancher,  George  B.,  Ph.  D., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Harms,  J.  H Harrisburg,  Pa. 

Harpster,  J.  H.,  D.  D Guntur,  India. 

Hartman,  A.  S.,  D.  D., Baltimore,  Md. 

Hartman,  J.  F.,  D.  D., La.  Fayette  Hill,  Pa. 

Hasskarl,  G.  C.  H.,  Ph.  D,.  D.  C.  L., Philadelphia. 

-Hay,  C  E.,  D.  D Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Heffner,  W.  C, Fayetteville,  Pa. 


276  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

Heissler,  J.  J., Trenton,   N.  J. 

Hirzel.  C.  J Philadelphia.  Pa. 

Hoffman,  I.  C, Chester,  Pa. 

Holloway,  H.  C,  D.  D., Bellefonte.   Pa. 

Holman,  S.  A.,  D.  D., Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Hoover,  D.  S.. Spring  City,  Pa. 

Horn,  E.  T.,  D.  D., Reading,  Pa. 

Hoshour,    E.    E., Philadelphia.    Pa. 

Hudson,  W.  G Catasauqua.  Pa. 

Hvintzinger,  F.  K., Reading.  Pa. 

Ibach,  W.  O., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Jacobs,  Charles  M., North  Wales,  Pa. 

Jacobs,  Prof.  H.  E.,  D.  D.,  L.  L.  D.,  Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia.  Pa. 

Jefferis,  E.  P., Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Keever,  E.  F., Boston,  Mass. 

Kercher,  G.  A., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Kenling,  E.  J., Weatherly.   Pa. 

Killinger,  E.  B., Trenton,  N.  J. 

Knubel,  F.  H.,.. New  York,  N.  Y. 

Kramlich,  J.  F., Royersford,  Pa. 

Kraff,  F.  C, Elizabeth,  N.  J. 

Krechting,  J.  P.,  D.  D., New  Germantown,  N.  J. 

Kuder,  C.  F Marietta,  Pa. 

Kuhlman,  Luther,  D.  D., Frederick,  Md. 

Kump,  W.  A.,  . Bridgeton.  N.  J. 

Kuntz,  J.  J Freeland.  Pa. 

Kunzman.  J.  C,  D.  D., Greensburg.  Pa. 

Kuntz,  I.  B., Pottstown.  Pa. 

Laird,  Samuel,  D.  D., Philadelphia.  Pa. 

Lambert,  J.  F Catassauqua.  Pa. 

Laury,  P.  A., Perkasie.  Pa. 

Leibensperger,  A.  W., Lititz.  Pa. 

Lemcke,  F.  C.  E., ^ Rochester,  Pa. 

Longaker,  F.  C, ^ Newport,  Ky. 

Loos,  G.  C, Philadelphia,  P. 

McClanahan,  C.  W., Strasburg,  Pa. 

Maclntoch,  A.  B., Bethlehem.  Pa. 

Mackenzie,  D.  L., Lykens,  Pa. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  277 

Main.  J.  H Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Manhart.  F.  P.,  D.  D., Baltimore,    Md. 

Marks,   C.   A Richmond,   Va. 

Matthews,  G.  B., Lancaster,  Pa. 

Miller,  C.  Armand, New  York,  N.  Y. 

Miller,  F., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Miller,  G.  W.,  D.  D., Baltimore,  Md. 

Miller,  L.  G.  M.,  D.  D., Roanoke,  Va. 

Moser,  D.  M., Schuylkill  Haven,  Pa. 

Moser,  Prof.  J.  C.,  D.  D., Hickory,  N.  C. 

Nickel,  W Applebachsville,  Pa. 

Nidecker,  J.  E., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Oberholtzer,  H.  M., Troy,  N.  Y. 

Ohl,  J.  F.,  Mus.  D., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Ort,  Prof.  S.  A.,  D.  D.,  L.  L.  D., Springfield,  Ohio. 

Paulson,  S New  Rochelle,  N.  Y. 

Pfatteicher.  E.,  Ph.  D., Kutztown,  Pa. 

Pflueger,  A.   P., Ringtown,   Pa. 

Pfluger.  O.  E., Elizabethville,  Pa. 

Raker,  J.  H., Topton,  Pa. 

Rees,  G.  C Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Reiter,  D.  H., Richland,  Centre,  Pa. 

Repass.  Prof.  S.  A.,  D.  D., Allentown,  Pa. 

Richard,  J.  W..  D.  D Gettysburg,  Pa. 

Richard,  J.  H., Ardmore,  Pa. 

Richard,  M.  G., Ambler,  Pa. 

Richards,  H.  B., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Riser,  Y.  von  A., Waynesboro,  Va. 

Rupp,  U.  S.  G., Baltimore,  Md. 

Ruthrauff,  Prof.  J.  M.,  D.  D., Springfield,  Ohio. 

Sandt.  C.  M Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Sandt,  G.  W Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Schantz,  F.  J.  F.,  D.  D., Myerstown,  Pa. 

Schefifer,  J.  A Allentown,  Pa. 

Schindel,  J.  J., Allentown,  Pa. 

Schmauk,  T.  E.,  D.  D., Lebanon,  Pa. 

Schmidt,  N.  F., Schwenksville,  Pa. 


278  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

Schnur,  G.  H., Chillicothe,  Ohio. 

Schuchard,  C.  B., Roxboro.  Pa. 

Seabrook.  W.  L Newberry,  S.  C. 

Seegers.  J.  C Easton.  Pa. 

Seiss,  J.  A..  D.  D.,  L.L.  D.,  L.  H.  D.,  ...  .Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Shearer,  J.  F Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Shindle,  H.  C Philadelphia.  Pa. 

Sibole,  E.,  D.  D Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Siebott,  H.  D.  E., Philadelphia.  Pa. 

Sieger,  P.  G Lancaster,  Pa. 

Singmaster,  Prof.  J.  A.,  D.  D., Gettysburg,   Pa. 

Smith,  J.  W Ephrata,  Pa. 

Smith,  L.  L Strasburg,  Va. 

Snyder,  C.  C Centre  Square.  Pa. 

Spaeth,  Prof.  A.,  D.  D., Mt  Airy.  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Spaeth,  H.  D., Albany,  N.  Y. 

Spieker,  C.  G Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Spieker.  Prof.  G.  F.,  D.  D., Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia.  Pa. 

Stall,  S.,  D.  D.. Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Stopp,  S.  A.  B., Doylestown.  Pa. 

Steodach,  P.  Z Easton,  Pa. 

Streamer,  C.  R Eionville,  Pa. 

Stump.  J Philipsburg,  Pa. 

Tilp,  C.  H Ft.  Washington,  Pa. 

Tollefsen,  I.. Port  Richmond,  N.  Y. 

Trafford,  E.  H., Kimberton.  Pa; 

Tressel.  E.  L.  S., Baltimore.  Md. 

Trexler,  S.  G Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Umbenhen.  J.  H Pottsville.  Pa. 

Valentine,  M.  H.,  D.  D., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Voigt,  A.  G.,  D.  D., Wilmington,  N.  C. 

Waage,  O.  F Pennsburg,  Pa. 

Wagner,  A.  E.,  Ph.  D., Altoona,  Pa. 

Weidelich,  J.  H., Sellersville.  Pa. 

Weicksel,  F.  A Numidia,  Pa. 

Weidley,  J Pittsburg,  Pa. 

Weigle,  E.  D.,  D.  D., Mechanicsburg,  Pa. 

Weiskotten,  C.  P., Manayunk,  Philadelphia.  Pa. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  279 

-  Weller,  H.  A.,    Orwigsburg.  Pa. 

-  -  Wenner,  G.  U.,  D.  D., New  York,  N.  Y. 

Wessinger.  E.  L., Shiremanstown,  Pa. 

White,  C.  G., Chambersburg.  Pa. 

-  Wischan,  F.,  D.  D., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Young,  J.,  D.  D., New  York,  N.  Y. 

Ziegenfus,  S.  A.,  D.  D Germantown,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Zweizig,  M.  L., Leechburg,  Pa. 

STUDENTS   OF   THEOLOGY. 

Berg,  J., Mt.  Airy.  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Blomgren,  C.  A Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Boettger,  E.  H., Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Clausen,  F.  B., Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Cooper,  W.  P., Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Cronshore,  H.  J., Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia.  Pa. 

Kline,  W.  H., Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

■^  Olson,  O.  N., Mt.   Airy,  Philadelphia,   Pa. 

Paul,  F.  I., Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Seashore,  A.  T., Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Telleen,  M., Mt. -Airy,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Trump.  S.  S Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

^o,      Wessinger,  D.  B., Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

DEACONESSES. 

Albright,  Sister  Alia, Baltimore.  Md. 

Bowe,  Sister  Regena, Baltimore,  Md. 

-  Christ,  Sister  Jennie,   .(K>"-.  ff^K^}^kC  t.<  .  .  .Baltimore.  Md. 
-  Steinman,  Sister  Magdalena Philadelphia.  Pa. 

j,^         In  addition  quite  a  number  of  sisters  from  the     Mary     J. 
Drexel  Motherhouse,  Philadelphia,  were  present,  whose  names 
I  were  not  handed  to  the  Secretaries. 

LAYMEN. 

Albrecht,  N.  C, Philadelphia.  Pa. 

Baetes,  H Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Bentz.  C.  G Lebanon,  Pa. 

Burkhardt,  W.  H., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Chiquoine,  A.  D., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Cooper,  J.  E., Winchester,  Va. 

Degraw,  J.  T., Darby,  Pa. 

s 


280  PROCEEDINGS    OF    GENERAL    CONFERENCE. 

Dreher,  Prof.  J.  D.,  Ph.  D.,  . . .  .  Roanoke  College,  Salem,  Va. 

Eilert,  E.  F New  York,  N.  Y. 

Finley,  J.  G., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Guthrod,  C.  P., New  Haven,  Conn. 

Hartranft,  F.  A., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Hengerer,  William, Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

Immell,  J.   M., Philadelphia,   Pa. 

Kmikle,  B.  S., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Miller,  E.  A .' Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Miller,  J.  F Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Miller,  W.  J., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Moore,  J.  W., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Moser,  J.  D., Conshohocken,  Pa. 

Opp,  Charles  B., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Runyon,  I.  S., New  York,  N.  Y. 

Schlechter.  J.  W., Conshohocken,  Pa. 

Smith,  C.  J., Strasburg,  Va. 

Snyder,  J.  W Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Staake,  W.  H.,  Esq.,   .-ivc^.^ Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Stine.  L.  K.,  M.  D.,  .  . : . .  ! Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Wischkaemper,  R Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Zehnder,  J.  A., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

LAYWOMEN. 

Beck,  Miss  C.  A., Centre  Square,  Pa. 

Benbow,  Mrs.  William,  .T»."^  J>  <"!'♦ Reading,  Pa. 

Bixler,  Mrs.  W.  H., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Donning.  Mrs Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Fry,  Miss  Jennie, Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Fry,  Miss  Mary, Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Harpster,  Mrs.  J.  H., Guntur,  India. 

Hoch,  Mrs.  A Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Jacobs,  Mrs.  H.  E., Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Miller,  Mrs.  W.  J., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Miller,  Miss  Adaline  G., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Miller,  Miss  M.  Helen, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Rittenhouse,  Mrs.  R., Norristown,  Pa. 

Showalter,   Miss   Mary, Norristown,   Pa. 


Index  of  Subjects. 

Aaron 192 

American  People,  The 139 

Anderdon's  "Luther" 253  ff . 

Anthropology 56 

Arians 32 

Anti-Nicene  Fathers 264 

Apostles,  custom  of 15  [ 

Apology 30 

Atonement,  doctrine  of 38 

Atlanta,  Ga 187 

Augsburg  Confession 30 

"         acceptance  of,  the  test 30 

on  Justification 47.  51,  54,  55.  59. 

"         on  Baptism loi,  103 

Augustin 154 

Austria 143 

Protestants  in 144 

"        schools  in 145 

"         lay-workers  in 146 

Authority,  human  or  Divine 8 

"Away  from  Rome" 145 

Baptismal  Regeneration 98 

Baptism 101 

Christian,  defined loi 

subjects  of 102 

of  infants 103 

mode  of 105 

Beginnings 26 

Beguine  sisterhoods 134 

Bible,  translation  of 253 

Birrel,  Augustine 266 

Bishops,  Lutheran 239,245 

Bishop  Von  Scheele 239,  247 


282  INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS. 

Bohemia ;  45 

and  Luther 145 

Boniface 1 54 

Ijoziiis  on  Luther's  death 262 

Conference  expenses 2 

Brotherhood,  universal 1 36 

Another  desirable 22 

purpose,  scope  and  character 25 

Canvass  for  subscribers 22 

Catechism 30 

Centrahzation 250 

Charity,  systematic 133 

"  the  work  of 269  ff. 

Chemnitz  on  Justification 48 

Christian  man.  The 122 

Christian  Liberty 121 

Christ,  the  perfect  High  Priest 197 

the  person  of 199 

Christo-centric    Theology 90 

Christian  experience 42 

Church,  The 29 

prophetic  office  of 137 

"       organization 80 

"         nurseries  of 139 

"           doctrine  of 73 

Church  polity,  problems  of 234 

purpose  of 234 

Lutheran 235 

Augsburg  Confession  on 251 

Church  Government 235 

"             forms  of 235 

Lutheran 235 

Church  and  State 242 

Church  Councils 81 

Cities 172 

Cooperation 189 

Colleges,  stronger  needed 181 

Confederation 15 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS.  28S 

Confessions,  on  Justification 47 

on  Baptism loi 

"  on  the  Lord's  Supper 106 

Congregational   authority 236,   243 

pohty 243 

Consubstantiation no,  112 

"  a  variable  term 116,  1 17 

"  history  of  the  term 118 

Common  service 26 

Communicatio  idiomatum 227 

Council  of  Trent 49, 256 

Creed  tinkering 10 

Criticism,  unfair  method 8 

of  the  Scripture 9 

Criticisms  of  the  Holy  Scriptures 223,  230,  232 

newspapers  and 231 

Dark  Ages 6,  7 

Deaconess  Boards 26 

Deaconess  Work 131 

American  conditions 137  flf 

in  the  General  Synod 142-143 

Deaconesses, 

'  in  the  primitive  church 131  ff 

"  of  the  present  day 132 

"  not  evangelists 137 

"  and  hospital  nursing 142 

"  and  parish  work 142 

"  proper  sphere  of 143 

'  duties  and  relations  of 143 

"  "consecrated" 143 

Defamers  of  Luther 252  ff. 

Differences 28 

Dispassionate  discussion 117 

Doctrine,  definition  of 100 

Doctrine  of  the  Sacraments 100 

Doctrinal  position 29 

no  change  intended 30 

Dogmaticians  on  Justification 48 


284  INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS. 

Douay  version 256 

Ddlch  Lutherans 237 

Expenses  of  Conference 2 

Ecclesiasticism 8 

Experimental  religion 12 

Eisenkolb.  Dr.  Anton 146 

Episcopal  power 241 

Evang.  Bund 148 

Ecumenical  Conference 167 

Faith,  Infant *. 104,  1 13 

Faith  and  works 71 

Female  Diaconate 131  ff- 

"Filled  with  the  spirit" 97 

Fliedner 135 

Foreign  Missions 149  ff. 

a  native  ministry 149  ff. 

"       the  law  of  growth 150 

"       custom  of  the  Apostles 151 

"       converts 152 

"       foreign  influence 157 

"       native  workers 158 

"       The  Home  Boards 159 

"       of  the  United  Synod 159 

Form  of  Concord  on  Justification 48 

on  the  Word  of  God 62 

Flat  Top  coal  fields 185 

Free  Church 141 

Freedom,  from  the  law 125 

Fundamental  doctrines  permanent 9 

Galatians,  Commentary  on 40,  41,  44 

General  Synod 25 

General  Council 25 

Sunday  School  methods. 206 

General  Bodies 25 

"General",  meaning  of 25 

German  Lutherans 337 

Gerhard  on  Justification 49 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS.  285 

German  Philadelphia  Conference 148 

God's  HoHness 193 

Government,  self  preservation  of 234 

God,  hiding  Himself 143 

Halle 237 

Harnack 228 

and  the  Word  of  God 93,229 

Hindu  catechists 151 

Historic  Lutheran  Basis 15 

High  Priest 192 

"Heart  of  the  Law,  A" 125 

Hospital  nursing 141 

Holy  Spirit,  The 90 

Place  in  Luth.  Theol 90 

and  the  Means  of  Grace 92,  98 

and  the  Word  of  God 93 

an  unscriptural  view 94 

and  Baptism 95 

"Filled  with" 97 

Home  Mission  Fields 168  ff. 

East 168 

the  great  commision 168 

difficulties 170 

General  Council 171 

extent  of '. 171 

need  in  cities 173 

statistics 174,  178 

pastors  and 175 

West 176 

extent  of 176 

its  settlers  Lutheran. 177 

more  ministers  needed 180 

Colleges  and 181 

South 182 

its  extent 183 

Flat  Top  coal  field 185 

United  Synod 186,  189 


286  INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS. 

"     Cooperation  needed 189 

Humanitarianisni 137 

Iceland,  Church  of 31 

Infant  Baptism 103 

reason  for 103 

objections  to 103 

answer  to  objections 103 

Infant  faith 104,  113.  119 

discussed  at  Wittenberg 119 

International  Sunday  School  Lessons 221 

shall  the  doctrine  stand 230 

Japan 159 

Japanese  Lutheran  Church ^ 159 

Jerome 258 

Jesuits 144 

Joseph  II 144 

Justification  by  Faith 32 

the  doctrine  of  the  O.  T ^2 

"           Smalcald  Articles  on 40 

"           the  doctrine  in  its  relations 42 

"           in  relation  to  the  work  of  Christ 51 

"           in  relation  to  the  Holy  Spirit 54 

"           in  relation  to  the  Trinity 50 

"           in  relation  to  Anthropology 56 

"           in  relation  to  the  Means  of  Grace 59 

in  relation  to  the  Christian  life 66 

"           in  relation  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Church ...  73 

Justification  God's  act 42 

the  Theological  conception  of 43 

"           salvation 44 

"  Luther  on 44,  45,  50 

Melanchthon 45.46.51 

the  confessions  on 47 

"           Dogmaticians  on 48 

and  Regeneration 67 

Justifying  Faith,  Thomasius  on 62 

Kaiserwerth 135,  141 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS.  287 

Kenosis 227 

Kinship  of  Lutherans 26 

Kumanioto 160 

Language  Question 140,  175 

Lay-workers 146 

Leipzig 28 

Levites 192 

Limitations  of  Christian  Liberty 126 

Liberty,  Christian 121 

Love,  necessary 30 

Loyola 250 

Luther   on  Justification 44 

Luther  on  the  Word  of  God 61 

Luther  and  the  Word  of  God 8 

Luther  and  the  Holy  Spirit 99 

Luther  on  vows 135 

Luther  on  Christian  Liberty 126 

Luther,  a  man  of  action 138 

Luther  on  the  Teacher 218 

Luther,  defamers  of 228,  252  ff. 

Luther's  translation  of  the  Bible 253 

Luther  and  the  Apocrypha 254 

Luther's  Death  and  Burial 258  flF. 

Luther's  Table  Talk 267 

Lutheran  Church. 

bishops 239,247,259 

Mission  on  to  the  20th  Century 5 

and  God's  word 8.  1 1 

and  fundamental  Christian  doctrines 9 

Divine  sentiment  in 12 

and  experimental  religion 12 

unity 13  ff..  26,  27 

providential  call  of 16 

union 26 

cooperation 26 

"         and  the  Higher  criticism 11 1 

and  constructive  theology 200 

unity  against  negative  criticism 231 


288 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS. 


Luther's  slanderers 267 

Luther's  loyalty  to  God's  Word 268 

Lutheran  character 30  ff. 

Lutheran  Literature 88 

Lutheran  polity  flexible 238 

Lutheran  statistics 171  ff.,  178 

Lutheran  Theology 90 

and  the  Holy  Spirit 90 

Christocentric 90 

Lutherans  in  the  West 177 

Luther  League 83,  87 

Lutheranism 31 

"  real  strength  of 31 

Golden  Age  of 99 

Lord's  Supper,  The 106 

Majunke 259  ff. 

Mariolatry 133 

Marriage 131 

Marburg 28 

Memorial,  Rev.  W.  M.  Baum,  D.  D 23 

Means  of  Grace • 60,  63,  98 

Melanchthon 45 

Method  of  the  Apostles. 151 

Mission  economics 150 

Mission  policy 150 

Motherhouses 136,  142 

Monachism 133 

Muhlenberg 25,237 

Negative  Criticism 231 

Newberry,  S.  C 185 

Newport  News,  Va 187 

Neuendettelsau 135,  141 

Norfolk,  Va '. 187 

Norway,  Church  of 31 

Objections  to  Young  Peoples'  Societies 83 

Opening  Service 5 

Opeing  Sermon 5 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS.  289 

Opening  Address 25 

Organization 250 

Organizations  in  the  Church ,  .  .   > 81 

Parochial  Schools 214 

Parliament,  Austrain 146 

Permanence  of  doctrines 9 

Pelagianism 46 

Persecution  of  Lutherans 144 

Pilgrim  Fathers 135 

Priesthood  of  believers 190 

Priesthood,  Old  Testament 191,  193 

"  in  Egypt 192 

"  of  Christ 197 

"  New  Testament 201 

Predestination 47 

Protestantism,  principles  of 6 

"  the  fundamental  principle  of 31 

Proceedings  of  Conference 17 

"  publication  of 22 

Prague,  Lutherans  in 144 

Puritan  deaconess,  a 135 

Problems  of  Church  polity 234  flF. 

"  is  change  practicable 235,239 

Polity,  Lutheran,  how  to  strengthen 244 

Quenstedt  on  Justification 49 

Raikes,  Robert 201 

Rajahmunary 151,  158 

Reaction  against  the  superficial 13 

Realism  of  fundamental  doctrines 9 

Reading  courses 88 

Real  Presence,  doctrine  of 108,  109 

Regeneration  and  Incarnation 122 

Reception,  Social  union 18 

Religion,  of  education 11 

Results  of  the  Conference 269  ff. 

Ritschl 228 

Rohrbacher  on  Luther 255 

Roman  Catholic  Church 140 


290  INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS. 

"       in  Austria 144 

"       disgust  for 145 

''       in  Bohemia 147 

Reformation 4 201 

Sacrament,  defined 100 

"Sacramental  religion" 93 

Sacraments,  as  Means  of  Grace 114 

"           Lutheran    doctrine   misunderstood 114 

"           doctrine  of 100 

"           from  a  pastor's  point  of  view 116 

Self  preservation  and  government 234 

Scripture,  the  Holy 222 

"         attitude  of  the  Lutheran  Church 222  flf. 

"         bold  assumption 224,  225 

"         Igorance 224,  226 

"         Calm  Security 224,  226,  228 

"         determining  principles 226 

"         normative  authority 228 

criticism 223.  230 

Sunday  School  methods 202 

Sunday  School  apparatus 205 

Sunday  Schools,  power  for  good 209 

"       the  name 211 

"       relation  to  the  Church 211 

"       singing  in 212 

"       libraries 212 

"       subject  matter  of  teaching 212 

"       system  of  graded  lessons 213 

^     "       fundamental  needs 213 

"       the  mission  of 213 

the  teacher 214,219 

"       the  pastor,  and 215 

"       more  time  needed  in 221 

"             discipline  of  inadequate 209 

Sachs,  Hans 149 

Saga,  Japan 159 

Sex  influence 131 

"Second  blessing" 96 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS.  291 

Sisterhoods 13^ 

Smalcald  articles 40,  47 

Spires 3  ^^ 

State  Church 141 

St.  Patrick I54 

South,  the 182 

growth  in  population 183 

"       causes  of  growth 184 

mineral  growth 184 

"       invites  capital  and  labor 185 

"       increase  in  factories 185 

its  fertile  soil i85 

"       United  Synod  in 

Sovereignty  of  Congregations 243 

Swedish  Lutherans 236 

Synodical  missionaries 246 

Ten  CcMTimandments 190 

Theology,  Lutheran 90 

Theological  system  diverging 90 

Theological  Seminaries 139 

and  Sunday  Schools 216 

Traied  nurse,  the 141 

Trans-substantiation 109 

Translation  of  the  Bible 253 

Toleration,  edict  of 144 

Unity  of  the  Church 13-  74 

United  Synod 186 

Uitarians 32 

Universal  brotherhood 136 

Universal  priesthood 191 '  ^9^ 

Von  Scheele,  Bishop 329,  247 

Vulgate 256 

Vows.  Luther  on 135 

Vows,  Luther  on 13; 

Wedewer 257 

Word  of  God, 8,  II,  60 

Word,  the  written  and  the  Personal 227,  229 

Works,  Faith  and 7^ 


ZyZ  INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS. 

Woman,  her  proper  place 131 

"       in  America 142 

"       in  Church  work i6off. 

"       in  poHtics 162 

and  man 163 

"       as  deaconess 165 

Xavier,  Francis 155 

Young  People's  Societies 79 

Zenana  Workers 166 


